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Paul,  the  missionary 


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PAUL 


THE    MISSIONARY 


The   Rev.  WILLIAM    M.  TAYLOR,   D.D. 

MINISTER   OF   THE   BROADWAY   TABERNACLE,  N.  Y.   CITY 

AUTHOR    OF    "DANIEL   THE    BELOVEd"    "  PETER    THE   APOSTLE  "    "  DAVID,  KING   OF 
ISRAEL"    "ELIJAH    THE    PROPHET "    AND    "  MOSES    THE    LAW-GIVER " 


NEW  YORK 

HARPER  &   BROTHERS,  FRANKLIN  SQUARE 
1882 


By  the  Rev.  W.  M.  TAYLOR,  D.D. 


Daniel  the  Beloved. 
David,  King  of  Israel. 
Peter  the  Apostle. 


Elijah  the  Prophet. 
Moses  the  Law-Giver. 
Paul  the  Missionary. 


1 2 mo,  Cloth,  $1  50  a  volume. 


Published  ey  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  New  York. 

B^^"  A  ny  of  the  above  works  sent  by  mail,  f>osfage  prepaid,  to  any  fart 
of  the  United  States,  ofi  receipt  of  the  price. 


Copyright,  i88i,  by  Harper  &  Brothers. 


PREFACE 


THE  life  of  Paul  must  always  be  a  subject  of  deepest 
interest  to  the  Christian  student ;  and  in  recent  years 
many  admirable  works — conspicuously  those  of  Conybeare 
and  Howson,  Lewin  and  Farrar — have  been  devoted  to  its 
elucidation.  The  present  volume,  however,  does  not  come 
into  competition  with  any  one  of  these,  for  the  author  has 
specially  aimed  at  pointing  the  practical  lessons  for  modern 
life  which  are  suggested  by  the  personal  experiences  and 
missionary  labors  of  the  Great  Apostle,  and  that  is  a  de- 
partment which  has  heretofore  been  too  largely  neglected. 
He  has,  indeed,  availed  himself  of  every  means  at  his  dis- 
posal for  the  illustration  of  the  narrative,  but  his  great  de- 
sign has  been  to  show  what  the  precept  of  Paul,  "  Be  ye 
followers  of  me,  even  as  I  also  am  of  Christ,"  means  here 
and  now  for  us;  and  his  prayer  is  that  God  may  bless  these 
discourses  to  the  furtherance  of  the  study  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament Scriptures,  and  to  the  fostering  of  a  more  earnest 
missionary  spirit  among  the  members  of  the  Christian 
Churches  in  the  land. 

New  York,  5  West  Thirty-fifth  Street. 


■Tfc 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

I.  Stephen 7 

1 1.  Early  History  and  Co7iversion  of  Paid 27 

III.  Damascics. — Arabia. —  Jerusalem 47 

IV.  A   Year  at  Antioch 68 

V.  Cypr'iis 88 

VI.   The  First  Recorded  Sermon  of  Paid 1 09 

VII.  Iconiiun,Lystra,  Derbe 128 

VIII.  Co7ifirming  the  Churches 147 

IX.   The  Council  of  Jerusalem 165 

X.   The  Two  Conte7itio7is 186 

XL   The  Seco7id  Missio7ta7y  Ba7id 204 

XII.  Paul  at  Philippi 223 

XIII.  Thessalo7iica  a7id  Berea 242 

XIV.  Athe7ts 259 

XV.   The  First-fruits  of  Achaia 277 

XVI.  Ephesus 296 

XVII.   The  Uproar  at  Ephesus 316 

XVIII.   The  Doctri7ial  Epistles 335 

XIX.    The  Parti7ig  Address 355 

XX.  Miletus  to  Jerusale7n 374 

XXI.  Fro77i  Jerusale77i  to  CcEsarea  392 

XXII.  Paid  before  Felix :  Felix  before  Paid 409 

XXIII.  Defe7ice  before  Agrippa 425 

XXIV.  The  Voyage  a7id  Shipwreck 443 

XXV.  Malta,  Puteoli,  and  Appii  Forum 463 


viii  Contents. 

Page 

XXVI.  Rome , 481 

XXV 1 1 .   The  Epistles  of  the  Imprisonmejit 500 

XXVIII.   The  Pastoral  Epistles. — Seco?id  I7npris07ii7ie7it  and 

Martyrdom 521 

XXIX.  Such  a  One  as  Paid 540 

INDEX 557 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Page 

Ephesus Frontispiece 

Tarsus .faces     28 


Wall  of  Damascus 

Antioch  on  the  Orontes 

Paul's  First  Missionary  Route 

Paul's  Second  Missionary  Route 

Athens  Restored,  as  Seen  from  the  Pnyx 

Corinth  Restored,  as  Seen  from  the  Acrocorinthus , 

Paul's  Third  Missionary  Route 

Ephesus  from  the  Theatre 

Paul's  Route  to  Rome 

Map  of  "  St.  Paul's  Bay,"  on  the  Island  of  Malta.  . 
Mole  of  Puteoli 


54 
72 
82 
204 
260 
278 
300 
304 
444 
464 
472 


XI  AU  U  JU  VJ?  VJC  J. 


PAUL  THE  MISSIONARY. 


I. 

STEPHEN. 

Acts  vi,,  vii. 


THE  Book  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  was  composed 
by  Luke  as  a  supplementary  treatise  to  the  Gospel 
which  goes  by  his  name.  His  design  in  the  earlier  pro- 
duction was  to  record  "  all  that  Jesus  began  both  to  do  and 
to  teach  until  the  day  in  which  he  was  taken  up."*  His 
purpose  in  the  latter  was  to  set  forth  what  the  Lord  con- 
tinued to  do  on  the  earth,  through  the  effusion  of  his  Spirit 
upon  his  apostles  and  disciples.  The  story  divides  itself 
naturally  into  two  parts.  The  central  figure  in  the  first  is 
Peter,  the  "apostle  of  the  circumcision;"  that  in  the  sec- 
ond is  Paul,  the  "  apostle  of  the  Gentiles."  The  boundary 
line  between  these  two  sections,  indeed,  is  not  sharply  or 
distinctly  defined,  for  the  one  overlaps  the  other ;  and  we 
have  important  scenes  in  the  life  of  Peter  introduced  after 
the  first  appearance  of  Paul  in  the  narrative.  But  this  feat- 
ure of  the  written  record  only  corresponds  to  the  relations 
of  the  two  apostles  themselves  to  each  other;  for  while 
Peter's  labors  were  specially  among  the  Jews,  he  was  the 

• ■ 

*  Acts  i.,  I. 


8  Paul  the  Missionary. 

first  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles ;  and  while  Paul's 
great  work  was  among  the  Gentiles,  he  invariably  made  the 
Synagogue  of  the  Jews  his  base  of  operations  in  seeking  the 
evangelization  of  the  Gentiles. 

In  the  first  portion  of  the  history  our  attention  is  mainly 
confined  to  events  that  happened  in  Jerusalem,  which  was 
the  cradle  of  the  infant  church ;  and  that  city  was  the  scene 
of  the  tragedy  which  v»-e  propose  to  bring  before  you  now, 
as  the  proper  introduction  to  the  life  of  Paul.  After  the 
Pentecostal  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  consequent  on  the 
ascension  of  the  Lord,  the  company  of  believers  contin- 
ued for  some  years  in  visible  incorporation  with  the  Jewish 
Church.  They  formed,  indeed,  in  many  respects,  a  commu- 
nity by  themselves,  meeting  statedly  for  worship  and  fel- 
lowship, in  private  houses,  and  in  convenient  public  places  ;* 
having  a  common  fund  for  their  support  ;t  and  conspicuous 
for  the  purity  and  elevation  of  their  lives. $  But  they  had 
not  formally  broken  away  from  the  ritual  of  Moses.  They 
conformed  to  all  the  customs  of  the  Jews ;  going  up  to  the 
Temple  at  the  hour  of  prayer,  §  and  keeping  strictly  by  the 
law  which  had  been  given  to  their  fathers.  Hence,  at  first, 
they  were  not  assailed  with  implacable  animosity.  The 
Sadducees,  indeed,  who  did  not  believe  in  a  resurrection, 
or  in  angels,  or  in  spirit,  ||  were  greatly  exasperated  at  their 
proclamation  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  and  on  two  sep- 
arate occasions  attempted  to  silence  the  apostles  ;1[  but  the 
advice  of  the  cautious  Gamaliel  prevailed  over  their  vio- 
lence, and  for  a  season  persecution  was  arrested.  When, 
however,  in  the  development  of  the  principles  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  the  apostles  and  their  coadjutors  began  to  speak  of 


*  Acts  ii.,46;  iii.,  II  ;  iv.,31.  f  Acts  ii.,44;  iv.,  32-35. 

t  Acts  ii.,42,47.  §  Acts  iii.,  i. 

II  Acts  xxiii.,  8.  f  Acts  iv.,  16-21  ;  v.,  17,  18,  28. 


Stephen.  9 

the  law  of  Moses  as  a  temporary  thing  which  was  to  be  ab- 
sorbed in,  and  superseded  by  a  spiritual  and  enduring  system, 
the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  combined  to  crush  them,  and 
had  not  their  doctrines  partaken  of  the  indestructibility  of 
God  they  would  undoubtedly  have  been  exterminated.  The 
collision  was  occasioned  by  the  zeal  and  ability  of  the  man 
who  first  fell  a  victim  to  its  severity ;  and  that  we  may  fully 
understand  the  case,  it  is  needful  that  we  go  somewhat  mi- 
nutely into  detail. 

In  Jerusalem — head-quarters  as  it  was  of  the  Jewish  wor- 
ship— there  were  many  Israelites  who  had  been  born  in  the 
foreign  cities,  to  which,  after  the  Dispersion,  the  chosen  peo- 
ple had  repaired  in  large  numbers.  Naturally,  those  who 
had  come  from  the  same  district  drew  together  and  formed 
separate  synagogues  ;  just  as  among  ourselves  we  have 
churches  known  as  Scotch  or  Irish  connected  with  the 
same  denomination.  The  Alexandrian  Jews  met  in  the 
synagogue  of  the  Alexandrians ;  those  from  Cyrene  in  that 
of  the  Cyrenians ;  while  the  freedmen  who  had  been  eman- 
cipated from  Roman  slavery  assembled  in  that  of  the  Lib- 
ertines. Now,  from  among  this  Greek-born  element  of  the 
population  of  Jerusalem,  a  considerable  number,  of  whom 
many  were  widows,  joined  the  company  of  believers.  These 
persons,  according  to  the  plan  which  had  been  adopted, 
were  entitled  to  be  supported  out  of  the  common  fund; 
but  the  apostles  could  not  look  after  everything ;  and  those 
to  whom  they  had  intrusted  the  duty  of  dividing  the  money 
had  very  likely  shown  some  partiality  in  its  distribution. 
It  was,  at  least,  alleged  by  the  Hellenists  that  their  widows 
"had  been  neglected  in  the  daily  ministrations;"  and  to  re- 
move all  cause  of  complaint,  the  apostles  took  immediate 
steps  to  secure  the  election  by  the  believers  themselves  of 
seven  men,  whom  they  ordained,  with  prayer  and  the  laying 
on  of  hands,  to  the  work  of  "  serving  tables."     It  is  worthy 


lo  Paul  the  Missionary. 

of  note,  as  an  incidental  indication  of  the  conciliatory  spirit 
by  which  the  Jewish  disciples  were  animated,  that,  judging 
from  the  Greek  names  they  bore,  all  the  seven  who  were 
thus  chosen  belonged  to  the  Hellenist  section,  from  Avhich 
the  murmuring  had  originally  come.  Only  two  of  them, 
however,  seem  to  have  risen  into  prominence  in  the  Church 
in  any  other  capacity  than  that  of  deacon.  These  were 
Philip,  who  is  elsewhere  styled  the  Evangelists^  and  Stephen, 
who  received  the  protomartyr's  crown.  The  expressions 
used  by  the  historian  concerning  the  latter  are  very  strong. 
He  is  described  as  "  full  of  faith  and  power ;"  and  it  is  af- 
firmed that  those  who  disputed  with  him  were  "not  able  to 
resist  the  wisdom  and  the  spirit  by  which  he  spake."  "  He 
seems,"  as  Dean  Stanley  has  well  said,  "  to  have  been  an 
instance,  such  as  is  not  uncommon  in  history,  of  a  new  en- 
ergy derived  from  a  new  sphere.  He  shot  far  ahead  of  his 
six  companions,  and  far  above  his  particular  office. "f  Not 
content  with  serving  tables,  he  sought  to  interest  those 
among  whom  he  moved  in  Jesus  and  his  Gospel.  Espe- 
cially did  he  aim  at  the  conversion  of  his  fellovz-Hellenists ; 
and  the  earnestness  of  his  efforts  in  this  direction  evoked 
the  antagonism  of  the  members  of  four  particular  syna- 
gogues whose  names  are  here  mentioned,  and  to  one  of 
which — that,  namely,  of  the  Cilicians — it  is  likely  that  Saul 
of  Tarsus  belonged.  It  is  entirely  probable,  therefore,  that 
as  Paul  was  in  the  front  rank  of  his  persecutors,  he  was  also 
one  of  the  keenest  disputants  with  whom  Stephen  had  to  con- 
tend ;  and  though  the  immediate  effect  was  only  to  inflame 
the  rage  of  the  controversialist,  we  may  well  believe  that 
the  truths  which  he  then  heard  became  the  germs  of  much 
which,  under  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  afterward  de- 
veloped into  the  Epistles  with  which  we  are  now  so  familiar. 

*  Acts  xxi.,  8.  t  Smith's  "Dictionary,"  art.  Stephen. 


Stephen.  ii 

We  are  not  told  what  were  the  particular  points  concern- 
ing which  Stephen  debated  with  his  opponents ;  but  as  he 
was  charged  with  speaking  "  blasphemous  words  against 
Moses  and  against  God,"  and  the  witnesses  against  him  al- 
leged that  they  had  heard  him  say  that  "  this  Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth shall  destroy  this  place,  and  shall  change  the  customs 
that  Moses  delivered  to  us,"  we  infer  that  he  must  have 
been  insisting  on  the  spirituality  of  true  worship,  the  tem- 
porary nature  of  the  Jewish  law,  and  the  non-essential  re- 
lation of  locality  to  the  service  of  God.  It  is,  indeed,  af- 
firmed that  those  who  bore  this  testimony  were  false  wit- 
nesses. But  the  falsehood  most  probably  consisted  in  the 
meaning  which  they  imputed  to  his  words,  just  as  in  the 
analogous  case  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  his  own  expressions, 
which  were  correctly  quoted,  were  perverted  into  the  utter- 
ances of  blasphemy.  We  incline,  therefore,  to  the  opinion 
that  Stephen  actually  had  said  all  that  the  witnesses  al- 
leged, the  rather  that,  as  Lewin  has  well  remarked,  "  this 
was  no  more  than  what  our  Lord  himself  had  foretold 
to  the  woman  of  Samaria,  that  neither  in  Samaria  nor 
in  Jerusalem,  but  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  should  God  be 
worshipped."*  Perhaps  his  birth,  training,  and  residence 
abroad  had  prepared  him  for  a  freer  handling  of  the  Mo- 
saic law  than  that  which  it  was  accustomed  to  receive  in 
the  metropolis  of  Judea ;  and  so  the  Holy  Ghost,  working 
through  his  own  individual  leanings,  may  have  brought  him 
all  the  more  rapidly  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  that 
aspect  of  Christianity  which  distinguishes  it  from  all  mere 
localized  worship,  and  fits  it  for  diffusion  throughout  the 
world.  This  would  lead  him,  in  his  disputations  with  the 
Hellenists,  to  dwell  on  the  spiritual  character  of  the  Gospel ; 

*  The  "Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,"  by  Thomas  Lewin,  Esq.,  vol. 
i.,p.32. 


12  Paul  the  Missionary. 

to  insist  upon  its  superiority  to  the  external  and  restricted 
ritual  of  Moses ;  and  to  forecast  the  time  when  Judaism 
should  cease,  and  Jew  and  Gentile  should  stand  alike  be- 
fore God,  without  respect  to  race  or  to  locality. 

If  we  take  this  view,  we  may  easily  comprehend  how  the 
prejudices,  not  only  of  the  Pharisees  and  the  Sadducees, 
but  also  of  the  commion  people  of  Jerusalem,  were  raised  so 
speedily  and  so  vindictively  against  him.  At  a  later  day, 
when  Paul  himself  was  making  his  defence  from  the  castle 
stairs  in  the  same  city,  the  people  gave  him  audience  until 
he  spake  of  his  having  been  commissioned  to  go  to  the  Gen- 
tiles ;  but  at  that  point  they  became  infuriated,  and  cried, 
"  Away  with  such  a  fellow  from  the  earth,  for  it  is  not  fit 
that  he  should  live.''*  Now,  a  somewhat  similar  effect  was 
produced  by  Stephen's  addresses,  and  therefore  we  may 
suppose  that  he  had  been  wounding  Jewish  susceptibilities 
by  pursuing  a  course  of  argument  which  clearly  led  to  the 
inbringing  of  the  Gentiles. 

But  his  adversaries  would  not  proceed  against  him  with- 
out some  show  of  law.  Accordingly,  they  caught  him  and 
brought  him  to  the  council-hall,  in  which  the  members  of 
the  Sanhedrim,  with  the  high-priest  as  their  president,  were 
assembled,  and  there  preferred  against  him  the  accusation 
to  which  we  have  referred.  The  tumult  was  doubtless  great 
as  the  crowd  surged  into  the  court -room,  for  noise  is  an 
inseparable  accompaniment  of  Oriental  rage ;  but  all  was 
calmness  in  the  confessor's  breast ;  for,  as  they  gazed  upon 
him,  men  saw  "  his  face  as  it  had  been  the  face  of  an  an- 
gel." The  perception  of  this  heavenly  radiance  surprised 
them  into  silence ;  for  when,  in  answer  to  the  high-priest's 
question,  "  Are  these  things  so  ?"  he  entered  upon  his  de- 
fence, they  listened  for  a  time  with  close  attention. 

*  Acts  xxii.,  22. 


Stephen.  13 

The  address  which  he  delivered  seems  to  the  superficial 
reader  to  be  no  more  than  a  brief  resume  of  leading  inci- 
dents in  the  history  of  Israel,  ending  with  a  withering  de- 
nunciation of  his  accusers.  It  appears,  at  first  sight,  to 
give  no  sort  of  answer  to  the  charges  which  had  been 
brought  against  him,  and  to  have  little  or  no  bearing  on 
the  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed.  But  these  has- 
tily-received impressions  are  erroneous ;  for,  when  we  go 
minutely  into  the  analysis  of  his  defence,  we  discover  that 
Stephen  was  making  history  do  the  work  of  argument,  and 
that  his  speech  was  as  skilfully  constructed  as  it  was  con- 
clusive. I  say  nothing  now  of  the  minor  and  unimportant 
discrepancies  between  some  of  his  statements  and  those 
of  the  Book  of  Genesis  f  but,  believing  as  I  do,  that  even 
though  they  were  utterly  irreconcilable,  there  is  nothing  in 
them  to  shake  our  faith  in  the  great  verities  of  the  Word  of 
God,  I  proceed  at  once  to  set  before  you  the  drift  and 
purpose  of  the  address  as  a  whole.  There  are  in  it  three 
distinct  yet  parallel  lines  of  argument,  along  which  the 
mind  of  the  speaker  runs,  as  it  were,  simultaneously,  until, 
with  the  accumulated  impetus  which  he  has  thence  derived, 
he  hurls  at  the  heads  of  his  hearers  that  tremendous  invec- 
tive in  the  midst  of  which  he  was  interrupted  by  the  lawless 
violence  alike  of  judges,  accusers,  and  spectators. 

The  first  of  these  lines  of  argument  treats  of  locality  in 
its  relation  to  the  acceptable  worship  of  God.  His  accusers 
had  alleged  that  he  had  spoken  against  "  this  holy  place ;" 
and  he  met  their  statement  with  a  simple  rehearsal  of  facts 
in  the  history  of  their  own  ancestors,  which  suggested  the 
conclusion  that,  as  there  had  been  true  worship  of  God  be- 


*  For  a  clear  statement  of  these  discrepancies,  and  the  best  attempt 
at  the  solution  of  them,  see  the  Donellan  Lectures  on  "  The  Inspiration 
of  Holy  Scripture,"  by  William  Lee,  pp.  448-454. 


14  Paul  the  Missionary. 

fore  the  Temple  was  built,  so  there  might  be  again  after  it 
had  passed  away.  Very  evidently  there  was  no  difference 
between  one  place  and  another  in  the  matter  of  holiness, 
when  Abraham  lived  on  the  earth ;  for  that  patriarch  served 
God  as  really  and  as  acceptably  as  any  man  ever  did,  and 
yet  he  had  no  possession  save  a  burial-place  in  the  Land 
of  Promise.  It  mattered  not,  however,  where  he  reared  his 
altar,  his  offering  was  well  pleasing  unto  God,  and  wherever 
he  called  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,  his  prayer  was  heard 
and  answered.  So,  in  Egypt,  the  service  rendered  to  God 
by  Joseph  was  as  truly  worship  as  if  it  had  been  offered  in 
the  so-called  "holy  place;"  while, when  Moses  stood  at  the 
burning  bush  trembling  with  mingled  fear  and  reverence, 
Jehovah  said  to  him,  "  Put  off  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet ; 
for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy  ground;"  imply- 
ing that  sacredness  was  given  to  any  locality  by  God's  gra- 
cious revelation  of  his  presence  there.  Moreover,  after  the 
tabernacle  was  set  up,  it  was  moved  from  place  to  place  in 
the  wilderness,  and  even  after  the  settlement  of  the  tribes 
in  Canaan  it  was  found  at  Shiloh,*  at  Gibeon,t  and  appar- 
ently also  at  Nob. I  Nor  is  this  all;  at  the  very  dedica- 
tion of  the  Temple  itself,  Solomon  recognized  the  fact  that 
"the  Most  High  dwelleth  not  in  temples  made  with  hands;" 
and  at  a  later  day  Isaiah  had  reaffirmed  the  same  thing, 
saying :  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  The  heaven  is  my  throne, 
and  the  earth  is  my  footstool :  where  is  the  house  that  ye 
build  unto  me  ?  and  where  is  the  place  of  my  rest }  For 
all  those  things  hath  my  hand  made,  and  all  those  things 
have  been,  saith  the  Lord."§  Now,  from  all  this,  the  in- 
ference, implied  rather  than  expressed,  but  yet  likely  to  be 
well  understood  by  those  with  whom  Stephen  had  been  in 

*  Joshua  xviii.,  I.  t  I  Chron.  xvi.,  39. 

J  I  Sam.  xxi.,  i.  §  Isa.  Ixvi.,  i,  2. 


Stephen.  15 

the  habit  of  debating,  was,  that  locality  was  not  of  the  es- 
sence of  worship,  and  that  he  was  not  to  be  found  guilty 
of  blasphemy  for  what  he  had  said  regarding  the  Temple. 

The  second  line  of  argument  dealt  with  the  question  of 
the  permanence  of  the  Mosaic  ritual.  He  had  been  ac- 
cused of  "blaspheming  Moses,"  and  his  reply  to  that  indict- 
ment was  a  rehearsal  of  their  history  w^hich  showed  that 
from  its  beginning  there  had  been  a  gradual  development 
in  their  religious  progress,  one  thing  having  been  added  to, 
or  having  grown  out  of  another,  and  all  reaching  forward  to 
something  yet  nobler  in  the  future  for  which  they  were  pre- 
paring. First  there  was  the  call  of  Abraham,  and  his  sepa- 
ration from  his  Chaldean  kinsmen ;  then,  added  to  that  sep- 
aration, there  was  the  covenant  of  circumcision;  then,  after 
the  sojourn  in  Egypt,  there  was  superimposed  the  ritual  of 
the  tabernacle,  which,  at  a  later  date,  was  superseded  by  that 
of  the  Temple.  But  at  the  introduction  of  each  of  these 
changes  there  had  been  an  indication  given  that  something 
still  nobler  was  to  be  expected.  Thus  at  Abraham's  call 
the  promise,  made  to  him  while  yet  he  was  in  Ur  of  the 
Chaldees,  was  one  which  embraced  not  a  household  or  a 
nation  merely,  but  the  world ;  for  so  it  ran  :  "  In  thee  shall 
all  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed."  This  promise  was  re- 
newed when  the  covenant  of  circumcision  was  given ;  and 
when  Moses  introduced  the  law  he  pointed  forward  to  an- 
other prophet  "like  unto  himself,"  who  was  to  arise,  and 
exhorted  that  when  he  came  he  should  be  heard.  "Like 
unto  himself  :"  mark  the  words,  for  they  describe  not  sim- 
ply resemblance  in  character,  but  rather  and  chiefly  resem- 
blance in  prophetical  position,  so  that,  as  Moses  differed 
from  all  other  servants  of  God  in  being  the  introducer  of 
a  new  economy,  this  coming  one  to  whom  he  pointed,  and 
for  whom  he  bespoke  attention,  would  also  be  the  inaugu- 
rator  of  a  new  dispensation.     The  quotation  of  this  predic- 


1 6  Paul  the  Missionary. 

tion  effectually  disposed  of  the  accusation  that  he  had  blas- 
phemed Moses  ;  for  it  showed  that  he  was  in  truth  ren- 
dering the  fullest  obedience  to  the  great  law^giver  in  listen- 
ing to  the  prophet  whereof  he  had  spoken,  while  they  were 
stubbornly  resisting  his  authority  in  refusing  to  accept  the 
spiritual  system  of  the  Messiah, 

The  third  line  of  argument  deals  with  the  consciences  of 
his  hearers,  and  was  designed  to  show  them  that,  in  their  re- 
jection of  Jesus  and  his  salvation,  they  were  only  following  in 
the  footsteps  of  their  fathers.  It  had  been,  alas  !  a  charac- 
teristic of  their  people  almost  from  the  beginning  that  they 
had  despised,  resisted,  and,  when  they  could,  even  murdered 
those  whom  God  had  chosen  and  appointed  to  be  their  lead- 
ers, instructors,  or  benefactors.  The  sons  of  Jacob,  filled 
with  envy  at  the  prophetic  intimation  of  Joseph's  exalta- 
tion over  them,  sold  him  into  slavery,  and  yet  they  lived 
to  be  beholden  to  him  for  their  preservation  from  famine. 
The  Israelites  in  Egypt  would  not  receive  Moses  when  in 
the  prime  and  vigor  of  his  manhood  he  offered  to  be  their 
champion  against  Pharaoh's  oppression ;  and  even  when, 
forty  years  afterward,  he  came  to  lead  them  from  their 
house  of  bondage,  they  distressed  him  with  their  murmur- 
ings  and  disobedience,  "  thrusting  him  from  them,  and  turn- 
ing back  again  to  Egypt  in  their  hearts."  Even  at  the  base 
of  Sinai  they  worshipped  a  golden  calf,  and,  in  the  course 
of  their  wanderings,  they  followed  after  other  forms  of  idol- 
latry,  so  that  it  might  be  said  that  they  had  always  resisted 
the  Holy  Ghost.  One  cannot  read  the  portion  of  the  ad- 
dress which  refers  to  Moses  without  feeling  that  throughout 
it  the  speaker  is  running  in  his  own  mind  a  parallel  be- 
tween the  treatment  which  the  great  emancipator  had  re- 
ceived at  the  hands  of  his  people,  and  that  which  the  very 
men  then  hearing  him  had  given  to  the  Lord  Jesus.  He 
held  the  mirror  up  so  faithfully  before  them  that  they  could 


Stephen.  17 

not  fail  to  see  themselves  in  the  sketch  which  he  had  given 
of  their  fathers.  And  now  the  emotion  which  he  had  so 
long  repressed  burst  out  all  the  more  vehemently  because 
it  had  been  so  persistently  held  back ;  and  clause  after 
clause  of  his  terrible  invective  was  sent  out  as  with  the 
force  of  an  old  Roman  catapult,  and  fell  with  terrible  effect 
upon  their  ears.  Hear  how  it  rolls  its  climactic  thunder 
out,  his  shining  face  the  w^hile  supplying  the  lightning's 
gleam.  "Ye  stiff-necked  and  uncircumcised  in  heart  and 
ears,  ye  do  always  resist  the  Holy  Ghost :  as  your  fathers 
did,  so  do  ye.  Which  of  the  prophets  have  not  your  fathers 
persecuted  ?  and  they  have  slain  them  which  showed  before 
of  the  coming  of  the  Just  One ;  of  wdiom  ye  have  been  now 
the  betrayers  and  murderers :  who  have  received  the  law  by 
the  disposition  of  angels,  and  have  not  kept  it." 

Thus  he,  who  stood  at  the  bar  of  the  council,  arraigned 
his  judges  and  accusers  alike  at  the  bar  of  God ;  and,  know- 
ing the  character  of  those  whom  he  addressed,  we  do  not 
wonder  at  the  effect  which  his  w^ords  produced.  Through- 
out his  defence  he  had  been  steadily,  one  might  almost  say, 
stealthily  approaching  the  sore  spot  in  their  consciences, 
and  the  moment  he  touched  that  with  the  smarting  acid  of 
his  searching  speech,  they  rose  in  a  rage  and  "gnashed  upon 
him  with  their  teeth."  There  was  an  end  now  to  all  pre- 
tence of  judicial  soberness ;  they  hurried  and  hustled  their 
victim  out  of  the  council-hall,  and  took  him  away  to  the 
common  place  of  execution,  that  they  might  stone  him  to 
death.*     But  their  violence  had  no  terror  for  him  ;  for  in 

*  The  fact  that  they  thus  assumed  a  right  to  inflict  capital  punish- 
ment, which  it  is  elsewhere  said  the  Romans  had  taken  away  from  them, 
will  be  no  difficulty  to  those  who  recognize  that  this  was  a  lawless  pro- 
ceeding, the  end  of  which  was  precipitated  by  the  outburst  of  the  fury  of 
a  mob.  If,  however,  as  Lewin  (vol.  i.,  p.  33)  has  supposed,  the  martyr- 
dom of  Stephen  occurred  in  the  interval  between  the  recall  of  Pilate  and 


1 8  Paul  the  Missionary. 

the  hour  of  his  deepest  extremity  special  support  was  given 
to  him,  and  he  was  cahn  in  the  consciousness  of  his  Sav- 
iour's presence  :  "  He,  being  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  look- 
ed up  steadfastly  into  heaven,  and  saw  the  glory  of  God, 
and  Jesus  standing  on  the  right  hand  of  God,  and  said. 
Behold,  I  see  the  heavens  opened,  and  the  Son  of  man 
standing  on  the  right  hand  of  God."  Upon  this,  his  per- 
secutors, resembling  therein  the  intolerant  in  a  later  gen- 
eration, drowned  his  voice  with  the  noise  which  they  made, 
and  went  on  with  their  deadly  work.  The  witnesses,  laying 
aside  their  upper  garments,  and  committing  them  to  the 
care  of  Saul  of  Tarsus,  who  seems  to  have  been  prominent 
in  the  outrage,  cast  the  first  stones.  These  brought  the 
noble  martyr  to  his  knees,  but  no  words  of  blame  or  of 
malediction  escaped  his  lips.  Still  was  there  before  his 
eyes  that  bright  vision  of  Christ's  loving  interest  in  his  ser- 
vant's welfare,  and  so, 

"  He  heeded  not  reviling  tones, 
Nor  sold  his  heart  to  idle  moans, 
Tho'  cursed  and  scorned,  and  bruised  with  stones : 
But  looking  upward,  full  of  grace. 
He  prayed,  and  from  a  happy  place 
God's  glory  smote  him  on  the  face."* 

He  prayed,  saying,  "Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit;"  but 
that  nothing  might  be  wanting  to  complete  his  likeness  to 
his  Lord,  he  hastened  to  add,  "  Lay  not  this  sin  to  their 
charge ;"  and  then,  despite  the  storm  of  human  passion 
that  was  howling  round  him,  he  "fell  asleep." 

Thus,  in  the  fiery  chariot  of  martyrdom,  this  earliest  suf- 
ferer of  death  for  Jesus'  sake  went  up  to  wear  the  crown 

the  appointment  of  his  successor,  while  yet  there  was  no  procurator  in 
the  province,  that  may  explain  why  it  was  that  they  took  it  ujDon  them- 
selves to  put  Stephen  to  death. 
*  Tennyson's  "  Two  Voices." 


Stephen.  19 

foreshadowed  in  the  name  he  bore,*  while  sorrowing  dis- 
ciples gathered  up  his  battered  and  blood-stained  remains 
and  carried  them  to  the  grave,  there  to  await  the  morning 
of  the  resurrection.  But  an  earlier  resurrection  was  in  store 
for  the  principles  which  he  taught;  for  though  he  knew 
not  of  it  at  the  moment,  the  mantle  of  the  martyred  deacon 
fell  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  man  of  Tarsus,  even  as  he 
stood  there  guarding  the  raiment  of  the  witnesses.  The 
words  which  he  had  that  day  heard  were  the  seeds  out  of 
which  his  whole  doctrine  grew,  and  even  till  his  latest  days 
there  are  indications  in  his  letters  that  many  of  the  expres- 
sions which  Stephen  had  used  were  indelibly  engraven  on 
Paul's  heart.  Stephen's  quotation  of  Isaiah's  words,  "The 
Most  High  dwelleth  not  in  temples  made  with  hands,"  was 
evidently  very  fresh  in  Paul's  memory  when  he  spoke  to  the 
men  of  Athens  from  Mars'  hilLf  The  phrase  "uncircum- 
cised  in  heart "  reappears,  with  such  expansion  as  frequent 
meditation  on  it  would  produce,  in  the  letter  to  the  Ro- 
mans, $  and  the  final  petition  of  the  martyr  for  his  mur- 
derers is  almost  the  last  recorded  ejaculation  of  Paul :  "  I 
pray  God  that  it  may  not  be  laid  to  their  charge. "§ 

How  the  Pharisaic  zealot  became  the  Christian  apostle, 
and  so  was  enabled  to  understand  and  appropriate  the  ut- 
terances of  Stephen,  will  appear  as  we  proceed  ;  meanwhile, 
let  us  pause  here  for  a  season  to  gather  up  and  carry  with 
us  the  lessons  which  this  early  chapter  of  Christian  Church 
history  suggests. 

Let  us  learn,  in  the  first  place,  that  fidelity  to  truth  pro- 
vokes antagonism  ;  holiness  and  sin  are  mutually  repel- 
lant ;  love  and  selfishness  are  the  opposites  of  each  other, 
and  sooner  or  later  the  followers  of  the  one  will  come  into 


*  ^Tk(pavog,  a  crown.  f  Acts  xvii.,  24. 

t  Rom.  ii.,  29.  §  2  Tim.  iv.,  16. 


20  Paul  the  Missionary. 

collision  with  the  votaries  of  the  other.  Our  Lord  Jesus, 
who  was  the  incarnation  of  love,  was  crucified  by  those  who 
could  not  bear  the  rebuke  of  his  matchless  benevolence ; 
and  in  the  proportion  in  which  we  manifest  his  spirit  we 
shall  provoke  the  enmity  with  which  he  was  assailed.  Thus 
it  was  with  Stephen  in  the  instance  before  us.  He  was  so 
like  Christ  in  the  meekness  with  which  he  was  adorned  ; 
in  the  far-reaching  spirituality  of  the  principles  which  he 
taught,  and  in  the  world-embracing  charity  which  he  mani- 
fested, that  they  who  had  nailed  the  Lord  to  the  cross  were 
impelled  by  similar  malignity  to  stone  him  to  death.  In 
these  days,  however,  the  world  has  changed  the  character  of 
its  persecution.  No  longer,  among  us,  at  least,  are  men  sent 
to  the  dungeon  or  the  scaffold  for  their  religious  faith,  and 
for  so  much  let  us  be  devoutly  thankful.  But  let  us  not 
suppose  that  the  opposition  of  the  selfish  and  sinful  to  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  has  ceased.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  mani- 
fested in  many  bitter  and  insulting  forms.  We  are  not  re- 
quired now  to  bear  our  testimony  before  councils  and  rulers, 
or  to  show  our  attachment  to  Jesus  by  burning  for  him  at 
the  stake ;  but  we  have  to  stand  up  for  him  in  our  homes, 
and  in  our  workshops,  and  in  our  counting-rooms ;  in  the 
life  of  business  and  of  politics,  and  in  the  intercourse  which 
we  cannot  but  carry  on  with  the  ungodly.  Nor  let  any  one 
suppose  that  this  is  easy.  It  entails  tribulation  and  antag- 
onism of  a  very  real  sort.  It  provokes  ridicule  and  scorn. 
It  makes  us  the  butt  of  many  a  bitter  jest,  and  the  object  of 
many  a  withering  sarcasm.  These  things  are  as  painful  to 
the  spirit  to-day,  as  the  stones  were  to  the  martyr's  body 
in  the  olden  time.  Yet,  let  us  not  complain  or  think  that 
any  strange  thing  has  happened  to  us,  when  we  are  thus  as- 
sailed. The  opposition  of  the  ungodly  is  one  of  the  seals 
to  the  genuineness  of  our  discipleship,  and  if  we  bear  our- 
selves rightly  under  it,  who  can  tell  but  that  it  may  be  the 


Stephen.  21 

occasion  of  blessing  to  multitudes  ?  Let  us,  therefore,  take 
it  patiently  in  memory  of  him  who  said,  "Woe  unto  you 
when  all  men  shall  speak  well  of  you,"  and  who  himself 
"when  he  was  reviled  reviled  not  again."  The  banner 
which  hangs  in  idle  folds  round  the  flag-staff  in  the  sultry 
stillness  of  the  summer  noon,  is  fully  unfurled  by  the  wild 
rudeness  of  the  wintry  wind ;  and  men  may  see  in  the  latter 
case  the  emblem  and  inscription  which  were  invisible  in  the 
former.  Even  so  the  antagonism  of  our  spiritual  adversa- 
ries is  valuable,  in  that  it  brings  forth  to  view  those  traits  of 
Christian  character  and  points  of  Christian  doctrine  which 
otherwise  would  have  been  unobserved.  It  will  do  this,  how- 
ever, only  when  we  keep  faithful  to  our  Lord,  and  determine 
never  to  be  ashamed  either  of  him  or  of  his  cross.  Let  us, 
therefore,  animated  by  the  example  of  this  faithful  martyr, 
be  "  steadfast  and  unmovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work 
of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  we  know  that  our  labor  shall  not 
be  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 

Let  us  mark,  in  the  second  place,  the  deep  interest  w4iich 
the  glorified  Redeemer  has  in  his  suffering  followers.  The 
Lord  sendeth  no  man  a  warfare  on  his  own  charges  ;  and 
when  he  has  special  work  for  any  one  to  do,  he  gives  him 
special  grace  to  enable  him  to  do  it.  It  was,  therefore,  in 
perfect  keeping  with  his  faithful  tenderness  that  he  appear- 
ed to  Stephen  at  the  moment  of  his  beginning  his  defence, 
and  then  as  he  was  in  the  article  of  dying.  He  keeps  his 
richest  cordials  for  our  sorest  need  ;  and  in  the  hour  of  our 
deepest  extremity  he  is  ready  with  his  greatest  help.  One 
thing  here  all  commentators  on  the  Scriptures,  from  Chrys- 
ostom  downward,  have  specially  remarked.  In  all  other  por- 
tions of  the  Word  of  God  the  ascended  Redeemer  is  repre- 
sented as  "  sitting  "  on  the  right  hand  of  God.  That  is  the 
posture  of  dignity  and  authority.  But  Stephen  says,  "  I  see 
the  Son  of  man  standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God  " — as  if 


2  2  Paul  the  Missionary. 

to  indicate  his  eager  interest  in  his  persecuted  servant,  and 
his  readiness  to  welcome  him  to  his  reward.  Wlien  "the 
heathen  rage,  and  the  people  imagine  a  vain  thing,"  his 
tranquillity  is  not  disturbed  by  the  wild  uproar.  "  He  who 
sitteth  in  the  heavens  "  only  "  laughs  "  at  that.  But  when  a 
saint  is  suffering  for  his  glory,  he  is  moved  indeed,  and  ap- 
pears to  him  as  one  "  standing  "  to  receive  him.  He  can- 
not sit  in  such  an  emergency,  for  he  is  himself  persecuted  in 
his  dying  disciple,  and  must  go  to  soothe  and  sustain  him. 
What  sight  could  be  more  transporting  than  that  which  thus 
met  the  gaze  of  Stephen !  and  it  was  little  wonder  that  he 
thought  nothing  of  the  manner  of  his  dying,  as  he  was  thus 
permitted  to  anticipate  the  consequences  of  his  death. 

But  Jesus  is  one  with  all  his  people  as  really  as  he  was 
with  Stephen.  "  In  all  their  afflictions  he  is  afflicted." 
Whoso  toucheth  them  toucheth  the  apple  of  his  eye.  Be- 
liever, is  not  this  to  thee  at  once  a  succor  and  a  consolation 
in  thy  time  of  trial  ?  There  needs  now  no  miraculous  open- 
ing of  the  heavens,  no  special  vision  of  the  glorified  Son 
of  man,  to  teach  thee  this  blessed  truth ;  it  is  here  reveal- 
ed most  plainly  in  the  open  Book.  Thy  foes  can  strike 
thee  only  through  thy  Saviour's  heart.  He  is  thy  shield 
and  buckler,  thy  high  tower  and  thy  deliverer ;  and  if  die 
thou  must,  thy  death  is  a  departure  to  be  with  him. 

Let  us  mark,  in  the  third  place,  the  peacefulness  of  the 
believer's  death.  I  question  if  there  be  anywhere  in  Script- 
ure a  more  suggestive  contrast  than  that  which  is  presented 
in  this  narrative  between  the  noisy  rage  of  the  persecuting 
company,  and  the  quiet  tranquillity  described  in  these  words^ 
"  When  he  had  said  this,  he  fell  asleep."  What  a  beauti- 
ful description  of  dying !  "  He  fell  asleep  !"  As  you  repeat 
the  phrase  you  think  of  some  home  scene,  when,  in  the  bos- 
om of  his  family,  surrounded  by  comforts,  and  soothed  with 
every  possible   ministration   of  affection,  some   loved  one 


Stephen.  23 

passes  away ;  but  it  seems  out  of  keeping  here,  considering 
the  violence  of  which  Stephen  was  the  victim.  It  seems  so, 
but  it  is  not  really  so,  for  it  tells  of  the  peace  that  was  in 
the  martyr's  heart.  You  cannot  go  to  sleep  with  anxiety 
fretting  your  spirit ;  but  when  your  mind  is  calm  and  undis- 
turbed, then  the  night  angel  comes  to  you  with  her  gift  of 
forgetfulness  and  her  ministry  of  restoration.  So  when  we 
read  that  Stephen  "  fell  asleep  "  we  see  through  the  words 
into  the  deep,  unbroken  quiet  of  his  soul. 

But  this  is  not  all  j  for  such  a  mode  of  speech  suggests  a 
future  awakening.  In  few  things  has  the  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity been  seen  more  than  in  the  transformation  which  it 
has  wrought  on  the  views  and  feelings  of  men  in  reference 
to  death.  The  ancient  Romans  regarded  it  with  dark  and 
hopeless  dread ;  and  as  they  put  the  ashes  in  the  urn,  the 
mourners  cried,  "  Farewell !  farewell!  eternally  farewell !" 
But  now  we  Christians  look  forward  to  the  resurrection  with 
faith  and  hope  and  joy,  and  call  the  graveyard  appropriate- 
ly the  cemetery,  that  is,  the  sleeping-place.  More  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago,  while  I  was  a  teacher  in  a  Scottish 
village,  it  was  my  custom  at  even-tide  to  wander  down  by  a 
river's  side  until  I  came  to  an  ancient  church-yard.  There 
I  found  a  moss-covered  stone,  with  its  inscription  all  illegi- 
ble, until,  like  another  Old  Mortality,  I  had  renewed  each 
letter  with  a  nail,  when  I  read  these  lines — doggerel  enough, 
but  higher  in  their  flight  of  faith  than  the  loftiest  poetic  in- 
spiration of  Greece  or  Rome  did  ever  reach  : 

"  I  go  to  grave  as  to  my  bed, 
Yet  not  there  to  remain  ; 
Awhile  for  to  repose  therein, 
And  then  to  rise  again." 

Immediately  opposite  that  stone  there  were  the  roofless  re- 
mains of  an  old  church,  part  at  which  had  been  enclosed  to 


24  Paul  the  Missionary. 

make  the  burial  vault  of  the  family  of  the  Marquis  of  Hast- 
ings j  and  over  the  door  of  that  ancestral  place  of  sepulture 
was  the  Hastings  coat  of  arms,  with  the  motto,  "  I  bide  my 
time  !"  So  I  learned  to  put  the  two  together,  and  made  out 
of  them  the  words  of  Job :  "All  the  days  of  my  appointed 
time  will  I  wait,"  /.  e.,  my  set  time  in  the  grave  will  I  wait, 
"  till  my  change  come.  Thou  shalt  call,  and  I  will  answer 
thee :  thou  wilt  have  a  desire  to  the  work  of  thy  hands."* 
The  day  is  coming  when  the  earth  shall  give  up  its  dead. 
The  last  enemy  is  already  conquered  by  the  risen  Christ ; 
and  when  "  the  mystery  of  God  "  on  earth  is  finished,  then 
the  formal  triumph  shall  be  celebrated,  and  the  dead  in 
Christ  shall  be  raised  incorruptible,  and  shall  be  glorified. 

*'  'Tis  but  a  night,  a  long  and  moonless  night, 
We  make  the  grave  our  bed,  and  then  are  gone. 
Thus  at  the  shut  of  eve  the  weary  bird 
Leaves  the  wide  air,  and  in  some  lonely  brake 
Cowers  down,  and  dozes  till  the  dawn  of  day, 
Then  claps  his  well-fledged  wings  and  bears  away." 

Finally,  we  may  learn  that  words  which  seem  to  have  been 
in  vain  are  not  always  fruitless.  Stephen's  defence  was  un- 
successful so  far,  at  least,  as  securing  the  preservation  of  his 
own  life  was  concerned.  But  his  argument  was  not  lost ;  for 
when  not  long  afterward  the  zealous  Saul  was  converted  on 
the  way  to  Damascus,  this  remarkable  address,  as  I  have 
no  doubt,  came  back  upon  him,  and  became  the  means 
which,  in  the  hands  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  were  used  for  his 
enlightenment  in  the  significance  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
Augustine  has  said  that  if  Stephen  had  not  prayed,  Saul 
would  not  have  been  converted  ;  and  we  may  perhaps  con- 
clude that  if  the  protomartyr  had  not  taken  the  peculiar 
line  of  defence  which  he  adopted,  Saul  might  not  have  be- 

*  Job  xiv.,  14,  15. 


Stephen.  25 

come  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  As  we  shall  see  hereaf- 
ter, Paul,  from  his  Pharisaic  training,  might  have  been  pre- 
disposed, on  becoming  a  Christian,  to  join  the  party  of  the 
circmncision  ;  but  this  speech  of  Stephen  before  the  coun- 
cil seems  to  have  been  at  least  one  of  the  means  which  God 
employed  for  leading  him  to  the  broad  spiritual  view  of  the 
Gospel  which  he  really  adopted ;  and,  as  we  have  already 
pointed  out,  the  careful  student  will  find  not  only  similarity 
in  many  of  Paul's  expressions  in  his  epistles  to  some  of 
those  used  by  Stephen,  but  also  a  very  considerable  resem- 
blance between  the  arguments  which  he  employed  with  the 
Judaizers,  and  those  which  the  protomartyr  used  with  the 
council.  Thus  seeds  which  appear  to  fall  by  the  way- 
side are  not  always  devoured  by  the  fowls  of  the  air. 
Thoughts  once  uttered  are  never  entirely  without  result. 
The  persecutors  could  kill  Stephen,  but  they  could  not 
recall  or  arrest  the  progress  of  the  words  which  he  had 
spoken ;  they  might  as  well  have  tried  to  stop  an  arrow  in 
its  flight,  or  to  bind  the  fleet  coursers  of  the  wind.  The 
moment  they  were  uttered  they  were  beyond  all  human  con- 
trol ;  and  they  produced  results  after  he  who  had  spoken 
them  had  passed  from  earth.  The  seed  grows,  though  the 
sower  dies  and  may  not  reap  the  crop.  So  Stephen's  ad- 
dress fell  into  Paul's  heart,  and  though  it  lay  there  dormant 
for  a  season,  yet  when  the  life-giving  Spirit  watered  it  with 
his  heavenly  influences,  it  sprung  up  and  brought  forth  fruit 
in  the  life  and  writings  of  the  great  apostle.  What  a  com- 
fort that  is  to  the  man  who  fears  that  his  words  for  God  are 
fruitless  and  forgotten  !  Nay,  a  word  is  always  a  seed  ; 
and  that  which  we  have  spoken  in  the  ear  may  by-and-by 
be  proclaimed  by  some  one  mightier  than  we  from  the 
house-top. 

But  what  a  lesson,  too,  for  the  persecutor  !     How  vain  his 
efforts !    Even  when  he  seems  to  have  succeeded,  he  is  real- 


26  Paul  the  Missionary. 

ly  vanquished  ;  for,  though  the  man  is  murdered,  the  truth 
which  he  spake  cannot  be  killed.  Here  is  the  real  Phoenix; 
for  when  its  enemies  have  thought  that  they  have  burned  it 
in  burning  its  preacher,  it  has  risen  from  the  flames  with  new 
strength  of  wing  to  take  a  wider  and  a  loftier  flight.  Thus 
God  maketh  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,  and,  by  his  in- 
finite wisdom,  bringeth  good  out  of  evil. 


II. 

EARL  Y  HIS  TOR  Y  AND  CONVERSION  OF  PA  UL. 
Acts  ix.,  1-22. 

TARSUS,  the  capital  of  the  Roman  province  of  Cilicia, 
was  situated  on  the  river  Cyclnus,  about  twelve  miles 
from  the  sea,  and  on  the  plain  which  lies  between  the  snowy 
mountain  range  of  Taurus  and  the  Mediterranean.  It 
spread  out  on  both  banks  of  the  river,  which,  though  now 
choked  with  mud  and  sand,  was  then  widened  into  a  harbor 
and  lined  with  spacious  docks.  From  its  communication 
with  the  Levant,  and  its  proximity  to  the  passes  over  the 
mountains  into  the  interior,  both  on  the  north  and  east,*  it 
was  a  place  of  great  commercial  and  militaiy  importance. 
It  was  made  a  free  city  by  Mark  Anthony;  and  this  privi- 
lege was  confirmed  by  Augustus,  probably  as  a  reward  for 
some  service  which  had  been  rendered  to  him  by  the  inhab- 
itants. This  entitled  its  citizens  to  be  governed  by  their 
own  laws,  and  to  be  protected  by  their  own  soldiers,  but  it 
did  not  carry  with  it  the  dignity  of  Roman  citizenship ;  and 
it  was  not  until  long  after  the  days  of  Paul,  when  Tarsus  was 
made  a  Roman  colony,  that  imperial  citizenship  became  the 
birthright  of  its  natives. 

The  prevailing  influence  in  it  at  the  time  of  which  we  are 
to  speak  was  Greek  ;  and  from  its  schools  of  literature  and 
philosophy,  which  rivalled,  and  in  the  opinion  of  some  even 


*  The  pass  on  the  north  was  called  the  Cilician  Gates ;  that  on  the 
south,  the  Syrian  Gates. 


28  Paul  the  Missionary. 

surpassed,  those  of  Athens  and  Alexandria,  many  men  had 
gone  to  places  of  trust  and  honor  throughout  the  Empire.* 
But  though  the  great  majority  of  the  population  was  of 
Greek  extraction,  there  was  a  large  number  of  Jewish  resi- 
dents, who  had  originally  settled  in  the  city  for  purposes  of 
trade,  and  who  maintained  all  their  religious  exclusiveness 
by  conforming  in  every  respect  to  the  Mosaic  law.  In  the 
home  of  such  a  Jewish  family,  in  this  Gentile  city,  some- 
where about  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era — certainly 
not  later  than  its  first  decade — Saul,  who  was  also  called 
Paul,  was  born.  His  parents  belonged  to  the  tribe  of  Ben- 
jamin, and  were  "  Hebrews  of  the  Hebrews,"!  that  is  to  say, 
Jews  who  had  not  been  contaminated  by  any  intermarriages 
with  Gentiles  in  the  line  of  their  ancestry.  They  were  also 
Pharisees  of  the  strictest  sort,  and  therefore  we  may  con- 
clude that  in  all  social,  educational,  and  religious  things 
they  kept  themselves  aloof  from  the  general  movements  of 
the  city.  They  named  their  son  Saul,  either  after  the  first 
King  of  Israel,  who  was  the  great  man  of  their  tribe,  or  be- 
cause he  had  been  given  to  them  in  answer  to  prayer,  for 
Saul,  like  Samuel,  means  "asked."  We  know  not  how  many 
other  children  grew  up  within  their  dwelling ;  but  there  was 
at  least  one  daughter,  whose  son,  in  after-days,  was  instru- 
mental in  saving  the  life  of  Paul,$  and  we  are  therefore  at 
liberty  to  picture  to  ourselves  the  boy  and  girl  growing  up 
with  and  into  each  other,  sharing  each  other's  sports  and 
labors,  and  helping  each  other  by  that  unconscious  training 
of  mutual  influence  which  is  always  more  formative  than 
mere  abecedarian  instruction.  We  catch  no  momentary 
glimpse  of  the   apostle's  mother,  and  therefore  we  cannot 


*  See  Lewin,  vol.  i.,  p.  7  ;  Howson,  vol.  i.,  pp.  42,  115  ;  Plumptre,  "  St. 
Paul  in  Asia  Minor,"  pp.  17,  18. 

t  Phil,  iii.,  5  ;  Acts  xxiii.,  6.  t  Acts  xxiii.,  16. 


Early  History  and  Conversion  of  Paul.         29 

speak  definitely  as  to  her  character,  or  trace  any  of  his  pe- 
culiar traits  to  her  home  life  and  example ;  but,  Pharisees  as 
they  were,  we  may  conclude  that  his  parents  made  him  early 
familiar  with  those  delightful  Scriptural  stories  which  have 
always  been  so  attractive  to  the  young,  and  which  are  not 
more  remarkable  for  their  fascinating  interest  than  for  their 
educational  power. 

His  father,  as  it  would  seem,  was  a  Roman  citizen,*  though 
how  he  obtained  that  distinction  there  is  no  evidence  to 
show.  But  the  possession  of  it  must  have  been  always 
a  source  of  satisfaction  to  the  members  of  his  household. 
In  the  years  of  his  boyhood,  the  principal  associates  of 
Paul  would  be  young  Jews  like  himself ;  but  he  could  not 
grow  up  in  a  Grecian  city  without  acquiring  the  language 
spoken  by  its  inhabitants,  and  receiving  some  impression 
from  the  men  and  things  around  him  ;  and  in  these  respects, 
also,  he  was  unconsciously,  yet  really,  being  prepared  for  the 
great  work  of  his  later  life.  After  a  time,  probably  when  he 
was  about  thirteen  years  of  age,  he  was  sent  to  Jerusalem  to 
prosecute  his  studies  there.  His  instructor  was  Gamaliel,! 
who  gave  such  cautious  advice  to  the  Sanhedrim  when  the 
apostles  were  under  accusation  before  it,1:  and  who  is  sup- 
posed by  some  to  have  been  the  son  of  the  venerable  Sim- 
eon, who  received  the  infant  Saviour  in  his  arms.§  His 
eminence  was  such  that  he  was  one  of  the  seven  teachers 
who  received  the  title  "  Rabban ;"  and,  though  a  Pharisee, 
he  was  distinguished  for  breadth  of  culture  and  soundness 
of  judgment.  The  style  of  training  to  which  youths  under 
the  superintendence  of  such  teachers  as  he  were  subjected, 
may  be  understood  and  appreciated  from  the  following  de- 
scription, which  may  in  all  points  be  verified  by  references 

*  Acts  XX.,  28.  t  Acts  xxii.,  3. 

t  Acts  v.,  34-40.  §  Luke  ii.,  25. 


30  Paul  the  Missionary. 

to  trustworthy  authorities.*  The  class  was  not  unlike  a  de- 
bating society,  with  the  professor  as  chairman  and  referee. 
A  passage  of  Holy  Scripture  was  chosen,  or  a  general  sub- 
ject for  discussion  proposed.  One  student  opened  with  an 
exposition  or  dissertation  which  was  opposed  by  some,  and 
defended  by  others.  The  most  contradictory  opinions  were 
allowed  to  be  freely  expressed  and  fully  argued  ;  and  so  the 
intellectual  powers  were  sharpened,  while  all  sides  of  a  sub- 
ject were  brought  into  prominence.  This  system  tended 
to  make  the  young  men  familiar  with  the  Old  Testament ; 
taught  them  to  be  quick  in  anticipating  objections,  and 
acute  in  replying  to  them  ;  and  gave  them  a  readiness  of 
utterance  and  a  rapidity  of  mental  movement  which  could 
scarcely  have  been  so  well  developed  otherwise.  How 
much  it  influenced  the  style  of  Paul's  reasoning  will  be  ap- 
parent to  every  one  who  marks  the  close-packed  argumen- 
tation, the  pointed  interrogations,  the  ready  answers  to  an- 
ticipated criticisms,  and  the  pet-fervid  energy  for  which  his 
writings  are  remarkable.  Of  Paul's  fellow -students  we 
know  little  or  nothing.  There  is  a  tradition  that  Barnabas 
was  one  of  them ;  and  he  must  have  come  more  or  less  fa- 
miliarly into  contact  with  Jesus  and  Simon,  the  sons  of  Ga- 
maliel, the  former  of  whom  was  afterward  high-priest,  and 
both  of  whom  were  probably  in  the  council  many  years  later, 
when  he  was  arraigned  before  it. 

But  among  the  Jews  the  learning  of  a  trade  was  a  part  of 
education.  One  of  their  rabbis  has  said,  "  He  that  teacheth 
not  his  son  a  trade  doth  the  same  as  if  he  had  taught  him 
to  steal ;"  and  another  has  asked,  "  He  that  hath  a  trade  in 
his  hand,  to  what  is  he  like  ?  He  is  like  a  vineyard  that  is 
fenced. "t     So,  after  finishing  what  we  may  call  his  colle- 

*  See  Lewin,  vol.  i.,  pp.  lo,  ii  ;    Conybeare  and  Howson,  vol.  i,,  pp. 
63,64;  Kitto's  "Cyclopaedia,"  art.  Education. 
t  See  Lewin  as  before,  vol.  i.,  p.  8. 


Early  History  and  Conversion  of  Paul.         31 

giate  course  at  Jerusalem,  Paul  seems  to  have  returned  to 
Tarsus,  where  he  learned  the  special  trade  of  the  city,  which, 
in  a  subsequent  chapter  of  the  Acts,  is  called  tent-making.* 
It  involved  in  it  working  with  two  sorts  of  materials — one  a 
species  of  cloth  obtained  by  spinning  and  weaving  the  long 
hair  of  the  goats  of  that  province,  and  thence  called  cili- 
cium ;  and  the  other  the  skins  of  animals.  This  accounts 
for  the  fact  that  Chrysostom  calls  Paul  at  one  time  "  a  tent- 
stitcher,"!  and  at  another  a  "  leather-cutter."t  Sometimes, 
in  those  days  of  toil,  he  might  grumble  a  little  over  the 
hardships  which  he  had  to  endure ;  but,  though  he  knew  it 
not  at  the  moment,  he  was  "  laying  up  in  store  against  the 
time  to  come  ;"  and  just  as  the  missionary  Moffat,  in  the 
course  of  his  labors  in  Caffreland,  many  a  time  blessed  the 
memory  of  his  grandmother,  because  in  spite  of  his  reluc. 
tance  she  insisted,  while  he  was  a  boy,  on  his  learning  to  do 
a  great  number  of  out-of-the-way  things,  saying,  "  You  do 
not  know  what  you  may  need  in  after-life;"  so,  when  in 
Ephesus  and  Corinth  Paul's  hands  ministered  to  liis  neces- 
sities, he  would  have  a  glow  of  honest  satisfaction  in  the 
reflection  that  he  had  persevered  so  thoroughly  as  to  mas- 
ter the  trade  to  which  he  had  thus  early  been  apprenticed. 

From  Tarsus  he  returned,  apparently  while  yet  a  youth, 
to  Jerusalem ;  and  it  is  an  interesting  question  whether  he 
ever  came  in  these  days  into  contact  with  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  There  are  no  data  in  existence  from  which  we  can 
give  a  reliable  answer  to  such  an  inquiry.  Some,  indeed, 
have  interpreted  his  words, "  We  have  known  Christ  after 
the  flesh, "§  as  implying  that  he  had  actually  seen  and  con- 
versed with  him  upon  the  earth  in  the  days  of  his  personal 
ministry ;  and  others,  with  perhaps  greater  probability,  un- 

*  Acts  xviii,  3.  t  'E.Ki)vopap(poQ. 

X  'S.KVTOToi-ioQ.     See  Lewin,  vol.  i.,  p.  9.  §  2  Cor.  v.,  16. 


32  Paul  the  Missionary. 

derstand  them  to  refer  to  his  former  carnal  ideas  of  the  per- 
son and  mission  of  the  Messiah.  But,  however  that  may 
have  been,  his  Pharisaic  training  would  naturally  prejudice 
him  against  some  of  the  doctrines  which  Christ  preached  ; 
and  considering  the  impetuous  ardor  of  his  temperament,  we 
do  not  v/onder  at  finding  him  among  the  fiercest  antagonists 
of  the  Gospel.  His  persecuting  zeal,  indeed,  seems  strange- 
ly inconsistent  with  the  wise  advice  given  by  Gamaliel  some 
time  before ;  but  we  must  not  forget  that  when  the  great 
rabbi  counselled  a  policy  of  non-committal  waiting,  the  apos- 
tles had  not  yet  begun  to  speak  of  the  abrogation  of  the 
Mosaic  law,  or  of  the  placing  of  the  Gentiles  on  a  footing  of 
equality  with  the  Jews.  So  soon,  however,  as  Stephen  com- 
menced to  hold  his  disputations  with  the  Hellenists,  and  to 
ventilate  these  doctrines,  supporting  his  assertions  with  tlie 
statements  of  the  Old  Testament  itself,  even  the  cautious 
and,  for  a  Pharisee,  catholic-spirited  Gamaliel*  was  roused 
into  animosity,  and  the  fanaticism  of  his  pupils  flamed  up 
into  intolerance.  Naturally,  in  such  a  conflict  as  Ste- 
phen's words  precipitated,  Saul  came  into  prominence.  His 
acuteness  of  intellect  and  intensity  of  character  would  in- 
evitably put  him  in  the  front.  When,  in  his  letter  to  the 
Galatians,  he  says,  "  I  profited  above  many  of  my  contempo- 
raries in  the  Jews'  religion,"!  we  understand  him  as  imply- 
ing that  he  was  a  leader  among  his  companions  ;  and  we 
can  easily  believe  that  even  then  visions  of  literary  and  po- 
litical eminence  were  floating  before  his  imagination.  Some 
have  alleged,  and  with  great  show  of  probability  on  their 
side,  that  he  was  thus  early  a  member  of  the  Sanhedrim  :t 
but  whether  or  not  we  adopt  that  opinion,  we  are  convinced 

*  Witness  the  prayer  against  Christian  heretics  which  was  composed 
or  sanc?tioned  by  him.     It  is  quoted  by  Howson,  vol.  i.,  p.  62,  note, 
t  Gal.  i.,  14. 
t  See  Farrar's  "  Life  and  Work  of  St.  Paul,"  vol.  i.,  p.  169. 


Early  History  and  Conversion  of  Paul.         2>3 

that  he  was  already  regarded  as  a  rising  man,  who  was  des- 
tined to  be  one  of  the  foremost  leaders  of  his  age. 

He  must  have  been  about  thirty-five  years  of  age  when 
the  persecution  arose  about  Stephen.  In  the  murder  of  the 
protomartyr  he  was  painfully  prominent;  and  in  the  cruel 
treatment  of  the  disciples  of  Christ,  which  drove  so  many  of 
them  from  the  Holy  City,  he  took  an  earnest,  we  might  say 
even  a  ferocious,  part — dragging  men  and  women  to  prison, 
and  manifesting  such  fuiy  that  he  is  described  by  the  sacred 
historian,  in  language  appropriate  to  some  savage  monster, 
"  as  breathing  out  threatenings  and  slaughter."  Pressense, 
in  his  admirable  work  on  the  "Early  Years  of  Christianity,"* 
has  attempted  to  account  for  this  by  supposing  that  the  ar- 
guments of  Stephen  had  already  produced  a  deep  impres- 
sion on  his  mind,  and  that  he  flung  himself  with  all  his  soul 
into  the  work  of  the  persecutor  simply  that  he  might  drown 
the  doubts  which  had  begun  to  trouble  him.  His  morbid 
excitement  was  thus,  in  the  opinion  of  that  writer,  an  evi- 
dence of  his  inner  restlessness.  It  is  an  ingenious  theory, 
and,  if  accepted,  it  would  help  to  take  away  somewhat  from 
what  we  commonly  regard  as  the  suddenness  of  the  apos- 
tle's conversion.  But,  though  there  have  been  some  in- 
stances in  which  the  severity  of  one's  assault  on  a  system 
has  been  only  "the  utterance  of  old  convictions  that  thus 
vainly  hope  to  stay  awhile  the  consciously  felt  current  of 
conversion  "  to  it  :t  yet  there  is  no  sufficient  evidence  that 
this  was  the  case  with  Paul.  Such  an  opinion  does  not 
seem  to  be  confirmed  by  the  references  made  by  him  to  the 

*  P.  105. 

t  Notably  was  this  so  in  the  strong  language  against  Rome  used  by 
John  Henry  Newman  in  his  work  on  "  The  Prophetical  Office  of  the 
Church,"  the  publication  of  which  preceded  by  but  a  brief  interval  his 
secession  to  the  Papal  Church.  See  his  own  Apologia,  and  Princetoji 
Review,  Sept.,  1878,  p.  625. 


34  Paul  the  Missionary. 

subject  in  his  later  life,  but  rather  to  be  inconsistent  with 
them  all ;  for  instead  of  hinting  at  any  beginning  of  mis- 
giving, he  declares  in  the  most  unqualified  manner  that 
through  all  his  career  as  a  persecutor  "he  verily  thought 
that  he  was  doing  God  service."  We  believe,  therefore, 
that  he  was,  up  to  the  moment  of  his  conversion,  a  sincere 
and  unquestioning  adherent  of  the  Jewish  religion,  as  inter- 
preted by  the  Pharisees ;  and  that  he  engaged  in  persecu- 
tion not  to  keep  himself  from  brooding  in  doubt  over  what 
Stephen  had  said,  but  because  he  had  the  strongest  convic- 
tion that  it  was  a  sacred  duty  to  put  to  death  the  disciples 
of  Jesus.^  Pie  went  so  far  in  this  direction  as  to  offer  his 
services  to  the  high -priest,  and  even  to  suggest  that  he 
might  be  sent  to  Damascus  to  bring  back  with  him  from 
that  city  to  Jerusalem,  as  prisoners,  any  whom  he  might 
there  find  infected  with  what  he  accounted  to  be  the  dan- 
gerous heresy  of  faith  in  the  Nazarene. 

It  may  seem  strange  that,  under  a  government  so  jealous 
as  that  of  the  Roman  Empire  was,  the  Sanhedrim  should 
have  had  jurisdiction  over  those  who  lived  at  such  a  dis- 
tance as  Damascus ;  but  by  the  decree  of  Julius  Caesar, 
confirmed  at  a  subsequent  date  by  Augustus,  the  Jews  were 
permitted  everywhere  to  live  under  their  own  laws.  Be- 
sides, at  this  particular  time,  the  state  of  affairs  in  the  East- 
ern provinces  was  such  that  apprehensions  like  those  which 
Saul  proposed  to  make  would  attract  little  or  no  attention, 
so  long  as  the  rights  of  Roman  citizens  were  respected. 
Nor  must  we  forget  that  the  authority  of  their  high-priest 
was  recognized  by  Jews  everywhere,  much  in  the  same  way 
as  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope  is  acknowledged,  in  our  own 
day,  by  Roman  Catholic  churches  in  all  lands. 


*  This  is  the  view  which  first  presents  itself  to  a  reader  of  the  narra- 
tive, and  it  has  been  adopted  by  both  Meyer  and  Baumgarten, 


Early  History  and  Conversion  of  Paul.         35 

Damascus  is  about  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  from  Je- 
rusalem. It  is  the  oldest  city  in  the  world,  and  was,  at  the 
date  of  which  we  speak,  the  capital  of  Syria.  It  lies  in  the 
plain  at  the  eastern  base  of  the  Antilibanus,  and  is  watered 
by  the  rivers  Pharpar  and  Abana.  It  is  pre-eminently  the 
jewel  of  the  East ;  and  the  view  as  the  traveller  approaches 
it  has  been  thus  described  :  "  The  great  city  lies  before  him ; 
and  the  outlines  of  several  of  its  edifices  can  be  dimly  traced 
beyond  the  thick  foliage  ;  behind  him  towers  the  majestic 
dome  of  Hermon  with  its  furrows  of  snow,  making  it  resem- 
ble the  head  of  an  old  man;  upon  his  right  are  the  Hauran, 
the  two  little  parallel  chains  which  enclose  the  lower  course 
of  the  Pharpar,  and  the  tumuli  of  the  region  of  the  lakes  ; 
and  upon  his  left  are  the  outer  spurs  of  the  Antilibanus, 
stretching  out  to  join  Mount  Hermon."*  For  this  city, 
armed  with  the  credentials  which  he  had  sought,  Paul  and 
his  companions  set  out  on  their  persecuting  errand.  Six 
days  they  had  been  journeying,  and  now  the  sun  was  ap- 
proaching his  meridian  height,  as  they  neared  their  desti- 
nation. "  The  hush  of  Oriental  noon"  was  over  the  scene; 
when  "  suddenly  there  shined  round  about  him  a  light  from 
heaven,  and  he  fell  to  the  earth,  and  heard  a  voice  saying 
unto  him,  Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me?  And  he 
said.  Who  art  thou,  Lord  ?  And  the  Lord  said,  I  am  Jesus 
whom  thou  persecutest ;  it  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against 
the  pricks.  And  he  trembling  and  astonished  said.  Lord, 
what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?  And  the  Lord  said  unto 
him,  Arise,  and  go  into  the  city,  and  it  shall  be  told  thee 
what  thou  must  do."  His  companions  were  speechless 
with  amazement.  They  saw  the  light,  but  did  not  dis- 
cern any  individual  figure ;  they  heard  the  voice  of  one 
speaking,  but  could  not  distinguish  the  words  that  were 

*  Renan,  "The  Apostles,"  p.  170,  Carleton's  Translation. 


36  Paul  the  Missionary. 

spoken  ;*  and  \vhen,  after  all  was  over,  they  discovered  that 
he  was  blind,  they  led  him  by  the  hand  into  the  city. 

Why  ?  thou,  me  ?  What  ?  thou,  me  .?  It  was  all  involved 
in  these  two  questions.  The  Lord  appeared  to  Saul.  He 
was  seen  by  him  there  as  a  living  and  reigning  one,  having 
a  right  to  lordship  over  him,  and  making  a  personal  appeal 
to  him.  For  the  moment  there  might  have  been  no  others 
in  the  universe  than  these  two ;  and  the  matter  to  be  set- 
tled between  them  was  whether  the  sinner  would  accept  the 
Saviour  as  his  sovereign,  or  would  reject  him  as  an  usurper. 
Paul  was  "apprehended  of  Christ  Jesus;"  would  he  "ap- 
prehend that  for  which  he  was  apprehended  ?"  That  was 
the  matter  he  had  now  to  settle.  It  was  a  crisis,  short, 
sharp,  almost  volcanic  in  its  intensity,  but  yet  thoroughly 
decisive  ;  for  he  came  out  of  it  yielding  himself  unreservedly 
to  Jesus  as  he  cried,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?" 

But  the  same  is  true  of  every  conversion.  When  Christ 
deals  with  a  soul,  he  "  takes  it  aside  from  the  multitude." 
He  puts  it  face  to  face  with  himself.     He  compels  it  to  con- 

*  So  we  find  the  principle  of  harmony  between  the  account  given  by 
the  historian  in  chap.  ix.  and  those  given  by  Paul  in  his  speeches  at  Je- 
rusalem and  before  Agrippa,  chaps,  xxii.  and  xxvi.  Baumgarten  (vol.  i., 
p.  210)  has  found  the  true  explanation,  when  he  says  that  "we  have  here 
an  instance  of  a  difference  of  sensibility  in  the  different  witnesses,  with  re- 
gard to  the  visibility  of  a  heavenly  phenomenon,"  and  cites  as  parallel 
cases  the  account  of  the  vision  given  to  Daniel  by  the  side  of  the  river 
Hiddekel,  and  described  Dan.  x.,  7  ;  and  the  different  explanations  given 
by  different  individuals  of  the  celestial  voice  that  spoke  to  Jesus,  John 
xii.,  28,29.  The  other  discrepancy,  which  arises  from  the  fact  that  in 
one  account  it  is  affirmed  that  Paul's  companions  stood  speechless, 
and  in  another  that  they  "were  all  fallen  to  the  earth,"  will  occasion 
no  perplexity  to  him  who  remembers  that  all  the  three  accounts  are  fur- 
nished in  one  history  by  the  same  author,  who  was  evidently  unconscious 
of  any  inconsistency  between  them  ;  or  who  pauses  to  think  that  the  fall- 
ing and  the  standing  may  easily  refer  to  different  moments  of  the  same 
wondrous  experience. 


Early  History  and  Conversion  of  Paul.         37 

front  the  question,  Why  art  thou  opposed  to  me  ?  The  gate 
into  the  kingdom  is  thus  like  one  of  those  turnstile  wickets 
through  which  each  must  pass  alone,  and  at  which  each 
must  be  reckoned  with  for  himself,  and  not  for  another. 
Each  must  there  declare  that  he  takes  Jesus  for  his  Lord, 
and  is  determined  to  hold  himself  exclusively  for  his  ser- 
vice ;  otherwise  he  cannot  enter ;  but  when  he  has  sin- 
cerely expressed  that  resolution,  the  very  fact  that  he  has 
done  so,  is  an  evidence  of  the  reality  of  his  regeneration. 

Behold  the  blind  man  led  by  the  hand  into  the  city! 
How  different  this  entrance  from  that  which  a  short  time 
before  he  had  anticipated !  Then  he  thought  of  being  re- 
ceived with  honor  by  the  rulers  of  the  synagogues,  and 
greeted  by  his  countrymen  as  the  champion  of  their  faith. 
Now  his  mind  is  turned  in  another  direction,  and  the  am- 
bition of  his  life  is  revolutionized.  He  who  came  to  make 
others  prisoners,  is  himself  taken  captive  by  the  Lord.  He 
who  came  to  drag  others  with  the  cords  of  persecution,  is 
himself  drawn  by  the  power  of  the  Redeemer's  love.  He 
whose  eyes  aforetime  were  fixed  and  fascinated  by  earthly 
objects,  is  now  blind  to  all  worldly  glories ;  but  there  shines 
within  him  that  "  celestial  light "  by  which  he  is  enabled 
"  to  see  and  tell  of  things  invisible  to  mortal  sight."  Those 
three  days  of  darkness  !  Who  may  attempt  to  speak  of  the 
revelations  which  they  made  to  him  ?  Now  would  come 
back  upon  him  with  new  meaning  the  words  which  had 
fallen  from  Stephen  in  their  eager  discussions  ;  now,  too, 
he  would  understand  that  seraphic  light  that  played  upon 
the  martyr's  face  as  he  stood  before  the  council,  and  that 
ecstatic  utterance  which  fell  from  him  as  they  were  leading 
him  out  to  death.  And  as  the  guilt  of  his  own  course  stood 
out  before  him  in  terrible  distinctness,  how  gladly  would  he 
recall  the  sufferer's  prayer,  "  Lord  lay  not  this  sin  to  their 
charge,"  and  find  in  his  conversion  the  answer  to  its  entreaty! 


38  Paul  the  Missionary. 

At  the  close  of  these  never-to-be-forgotten  days,  a  Chris- 
tian named  Ananias,  who  had  been  supernaturally  prepared 
for  the  discharge  of  the  duty,  was  the  means  of  restoring  to 
him  his  sight,  and  imparting  to  him  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  With  characteristic  decision  he  obeyed  the  com- 
mand to  be  baptized,  and  after  a  short  time  he  came  forth 
and  publicly  in  the  synagogues  of  the  city  preached  the 
faith  which  he  once  sought  to  destroy. 

This  interesting  narrative  may  be  viewed  as  the  record 
both  of  a  personal  experience  and  of  a  public  event.  In 
the  former  light  it  is  valuable  as  illustrating  the  means  by 
which  conversion  is  produced  ;  in  the  latter  it  is  important 
as  furnishing  strong  corroborative  evidence  of  the  divine 
origin  of  the  Gospel.  It  may  seem,  indeed,  that  the  ex- 
traordinary nature  of  the  incidents  connected  with  it  re- 
moves this  conversion  from  the  category  of  common  occur- 
rences, and  makes  it  unavailable  as  a  directory  for  others  ; 
but  though  there  was  miracle  here,  the  miracle  was  not  in 
the  conversion  properly  so  called,  but  only  in  its  accessories 
and  antecedents.  In  a  certain  sense,  every  conversion  is 
the  result  of  supernatural  agency ;  but  when  we  look  into 
this  history  attentively,  we  discover  that  the  change  in  Saul's 
heart  and  life  was  produced  by  the  very  same  means  which 
accomplish  such  spiritual  transformations  among  ourselves. 
From  the  divine  side  it  was  produced  by  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  from  the  human  it  was  the  result  of  Paul's 
own  apprehension  and  acceptance  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus.  Paul  saw  and  believed  that  Jesus  is  alive,  and  that 
sight  and  faith  revolutionized  his  life.  Up  till  this  time  he 
had  regarded  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  an  ordinaiy  man  who 
was  dead  ;  but  now  he  saw  that  he  who  had  died  upon  the 
cross  is  the  Lord  of  Glory,  living  and  reigning  on  the  heav- 
enly throne.  No  doubt  he  was  convinced  of  this  by  the 
miraculous  appearance  of  Christ ;  but  it  was  the  being  con- 


Early  History  and  Conversion  of  Paul.         39 

vinced  of  it  that  converted  him.  Like  every  other  Chris- 
tian, he  entered  the  kingdom  through  the  behef  of  the  truth. 
The  manner  in  which  he  was  led  to  that  belief  was  peculiar ; 
but  the  effects  of  it  were  the  same  as  they  are  in  every  con- 
vert, for  it  issued  in  unreserved  transference  of  himself  to 
the  service  of  Christ ;  in  earnest  prayer ;  in  prompt  confes- 
sion, and  in  the  public  bearing  of  his  testimony  in  the  syna- 
gogues of  the  city. 

One  thing,  however,  is  conspicuous  by  its  absence,  as  in- 
deed it  is  in  all  the  conversions  of  which  we  have  a  detailed 
account  in  the  Nev/  Testament.  Here  was  no  long  season 
of  awakening,  such  as  many  think  to  be  indispensable  to  a 
right  change  of  heart.  True,  he  was  three  days  in  blind- 
ness ;  but,  if  I  have  read  the  history  aright,  the  Rubicon 
was  crossed  and  the  new  life  begun,  when  he  said,  "  What 
wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  }''  He  had  already  given  himself 
to  Christ  before  he  passed  through  that  mystic  tunnel ; 
and  the  promptitude  of  his  obedience  to  the  Saviour's  call 
ought  to  be  imitated  by  every  one  to  whom  the  Gospel  is 
preached. 

Is  there  here  any  one  who  has  hitherto  been  an  antago- 
nist to  Christ  ?  Let  me  proclaim  to  him  the  truth  which 
thus  arrested  and  converted  Saul:  T/ie  Lord  liveth!  You 
have  not  to  do  merely  with  one  who  died  eighteen  hundred 
years  ago,  and  is  now  no  more  to  the  world  than  one  of  the 
philosophers  of  antiquity.  You  have  to  do  with  one  who 
is  still  living  and  working  among  us.  Nor  do  you  need  any 
miraculous  vision  to  convince  you  that  this  is  the  case ;  for 
if  you  can  read  these  gospels  and  yet  remain  an  unbeliever 
in  the  truth  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  then  I 
deliberately  say  neither  would  you  be  persuaded  though  he 
were  to  smite  you  with  his  blinding  light,  as  here  he  pros- 
trated the  persecutor.  Have  you  ever  given  even  an  hour's 
patient  consideration  to  the  character  of  Jesus  as  it  is  here 


40  Paul  the  Missionary. 

portrayed,  or  to  the  solution  of  the  question  whence  that' 
character  came  ?  or  how  it  is  to  be  accounted  for  ?  Have 
you  weighed  well  what  he  has  done  in  the  world  during  the 
centuries  that  have  intervened  since  the  crucifixion  ?  Have 
you  pondered  what  he  is  doing  to-day  ?  There  are  around 
you  on  every  hand  evidences  of  his  power  and  presence. 
There  are  drunkards  who  have  been  made  holy  by  his  trans- 
forming spirit ;  sensualists  who  have  been  made  pure  by  his 
cleansing  grace ;  selfish  ones  who  have  been  made  benevo- 
lent by  the  influence  of  his  love ;  whole  communities  that 
have  been  shaken  by  his  truth  ;  and  nations  that  have  been 
raised  from  barbarism  to  civilization  by  the  leverage  of  his 
Gospel.  There  needs  no  miracle  now,  therefore,  to  prove 
that  he  has  risen  from  the  dead.  Why,  then,  will  you  still 
stand  against  him  ?  What  has  he  done  to  you  that  you 
should  resist  him  so  ?  He  has  given  himself  to  death  for 
your  deliverance  from  the  bondage  and  bitterness  of  sin  j 
he  has  followed  you  all  through  your  life  with  his  love  ;  he 
is  at  this  moment  tenderly  entreating  you  to  let  him  come 
into  your  heart  that  he  may  bless  you  with  his  salvation. 
He  knocks  for  admission ;  but,  respecting  your  moral  free- 
dom, he  will  not  force  an  entrance.  He  waits  for  your  invi- 
tation !  Let  him  not  wait  another  moment ;  but  undo  the 
door  now,  saying,  like  the  man  of  Tarsus,  "  Lord,  what  wilt 
thou  have  me  to  do  ?" 

Viewed  as  a  public  event  in  the  history  of  the  Christian 
Church,  the  conversion  of  Paul  furnishes  new  and  indepen- 
dent testimony  to  the  divine  origin  of  the  Gospel.  The  story 
is  perfectly  authenticated.  Twice  did  the  apostle  himself 
repeat  it  in  detail  before  public  tribunals ;  and  the  book  in 
which  we  find  it  here  recorded  was  written  less  than  thirty 
years  after  the  events  were  said  to  have  occurred.  Nor 
was  it  ever  called  in  question  by  his  contemporaries,  as, 
supposing  it  to  have  been  false,  it  could  easily  have  been, 


Early  History  and  Conversion  of  Paul.        41 

by  the  agency  of  those  who  had  been  his  companions  on  his 
journey.  Besides,  a  history  Hke  this  is  needed  to  account 
for  the  change  which  passed  on  Saul.  At  one  time  you  be- 
hold him  a  furious  persecutor  of  the  Gospel,  at  another  its 
earnest  and  impassioned  preacher.  These  two  things  are 
both  as  absolutely  certain  as  any  facts  in  history  can  be.. 
No  one  ever  attempts  to  deny  or  controvert  them.  How 
then  shall  we  explain  this  marvellous  transition  ?  Admit 
the  truth  of  what  is  here  recorded,  and  everything  is  ac- 
counted for ;  deny  it,  and  you  are  driven  to  belieVe  in  a 
moral  incongruity  which  is  harder  to  accept  than  any  mir- 
acle. For  if  this  stoiy  be  false,  then  Paul  must  either  have 
been  the  victim  of  deception,  or  he  must  have  been  a  delib- 
erate deceiver.  If  he  was  the  victim  of  deception,  then  he 
was  either  imposed  upon  by  others,  or  he  was  imposing  on 
himself.  But  he  could  not  be  imposed  upon  by  others  ;  for, 
allowing  for  a  moment  that  he  was  a  man  likely  to  be 
easily  duped,  the  early  Christians,  preaching  as  they  did  the 
purest  morality,  would  have  scorned  to  attempt  any  such  de- 
ception ;  and  even  if  they  had  attempted  it,  they  would  hard- 
ly have  dreamed  of  trying  it  on  one  of  their  bitterest  ene- 
mies. Besides,  how  could  they  have  produced  this  blinding 
light  at  noonday }  But,  so  far  as  we  may  read  his  charac- 
ter in  his  letters,  we  cannot  believe  that  Paul  was  a  person 
likely  to  be  thus  imposed  upon  ;  for,  though  he  had  an  ar- 
dent temperament,  he  was  at  the  same  time  endowed  with 
marvellous  common-sense,  and  had  a  mental  independence 
that  would  not  allow  him  to  receive  his  opinions  ready  made 
from  others.  If  he  was  deceived  by  others,  you  must  ac- 
count for  his  having  been  so  by  alleging  that  he  had  not 
sufficient  intellectual  discernment  to  detect  the  fraud,  and 
perhaps  those  who  are  strangers  to  his  writings  will  believe 
you;  but  all  who  have  studied  his  matchless  epistles  will 
scout  your  assertion  as  an  absurdity.     But  if  he  was  not  im- 


42  Paul  the  Missionary. 

jDOsed  upon  by  others,  was  he  imposing  upon  himself  ?  This 
is  equally  inconceivable.  There  have,  indeed,  been  instances 
of  fanaticism  so  working  on  a  diseased  imagination  as  to 
lead  the  man  to  suppose  that  he  had  seen  miraculous  ap- 
pearances j  but  these  have  been  in  the  cases  either  of  earnest 
inquirers  looking  toward  the  truth,  or  of  those  who  were  al- 
ready convinced.  Here,  however,  Saul  was  a  vehement  par- 
tisan against  it  j  and  if  there  was  any  fanaticism  about  him, 
it  was  that  of  an  antagonist,  and  not  of  a  devotee.  More- 
over, h^  had  a  mind  too  well  balanced  to  be  the  victim  of 
hallucinations  ;  and  you  have  only  to  contrast  the  cautious 
way  in  which  he  speaks  of  another  vision  at  a  later  date, 
when  he  says  that  he  could  not  tell  whether  he  was  in  the 
body  or  not,"*  with  the  unqualified  manner  in  which  in  the 
present  instance  he  affirms  that  he  had  seen  the  Lord,  to 
be  convinced  that  he  was  not  likely  to  be  carried  away 
with  his  own  fevered  fancy. 

There  remains,  therefore,  only  one  alternative,  if  this 
story  be  false,  and  that  is,  that  Paul  was  a  deliberate  de- 
ceiver. But  what  motive  could  he  have  for  taking  such  a 
course  ?  What  was  he  to  gain  by  this  wilful  imposition  ? 
Gain  ?  So  far  from  gaining  anything,  he  lost  all  that  the 
world  holds  dear  by  adhering  to  this  testimony.  His  whole 
after-life  was  the  endurance  of  a  series  of  persecutions  which 
would  have  ceased  in  a  moment  if  he  had  confessed  a  fraud ; 
yet  never  does  he  falter  in  the  least  degree.  Through  good 
report  and  through  evil  report;  before  the  Jews  at  Jerusa- 
lem ;  before  Felix,  Festus,  and  Agrippa  at  Caesarea  ;  before 
Nero  at  Rome,  he  had  still  the  same  story  to  tell,  and  still 
the  same  appeal  to  make  to  the  Lord  that  "  appeared  unto 
him  in  the  way ;"  and  though  at  last  he  might  have  escaped 
death  by  acknowledging  that  he  had  been  a  wilful  impostor, 

*  2  Cor.  xii.,  2. 


Early  History  and  Conversion  of  Paul.         43 

he  continued  in  the  assertion  of  his  integrity  to  the  end. 
But  that  is  not  the  only  difficulty  in  the  case.  Was  Paul  a 
man  likely  to  live  a  constant  lie  like  this  ?  Read  his  epis- 
tles. See  how  exalted  is  the  morality  which  he  inculcates, 
and  how  thorough  is  the  conscientiousness  which  he  en- 
forces. He  commands  his  readers  to  '•  abstain  from  all  ap- 
pearance of  evil,"  and  not  to  be  "  partakers  of  other  men's 
sins  /'  he  warns  his  followers  "  night  and  day  with  tears,"  to 
keep  themselves  in  truth  and  purity;  he  directs  his  most 
withering  scorn  against  those  who,  though  they  have  named 
the  name  of  Christ,  are  yet  characterized  by  falsehood  and 
dishonesty ;  he  does  not  hesitate  to  take  the  course  which 
he  believes  to  be  right,  even  though  valued  friends  like  Bar- 
nabas and  Peter  should  seem  to  stand  aloof  from  him;  he 
follows  the  truth  for  its  own  sake,  or  rather  for  Christ's 
sake,  clings  to  it  as  his  soul's  soul,  in  the  face  of  every  oppo- 
sition, and  heedless  though  he  stands  alone  ;  yet  this  is  the 
man  who,  on  the  supposition  I  am  now  arguing,  deliberate- 
ly deeeives  us  in  the  story  of  his  conversion.  Believe  that 
who  can  !  I,  at  least,  am  not  so  credulous ;  and  I  confront 
those  who  speak  of  the  physical  impossibility  of  miracles, 
with  the  moral  impossibility  of  the  falsehood  of  such  testi- 
mony. It  is  the  fashion,  in  these  days,  to  decry  the  study  of 
the  Christian  evidences  ;  but  my  conviction  is  that  now,  in 
a  very  special  degree,  the  attention  of  inquirers  ought  to  be 
directed  to  it ;  and  in  an  age  when  sneering  remarks  con- 
cerning the  credulity  of  Gospel  believers  are  common,  I  am 
rejoiced  to  have  an  opportunity  of  outlining  thus  before  you 
the  argument  for  the  credibility  and  divinity  of  the  Gospel, 
founded  on  the  conversion  of  Paul.  Lord  Lyttelton,  in  his 
essay  on  this  subject,  has  given  us  the  nearest  approach 
which  moral  evidence  can  make  to  a  demonstration  of  the 
truth  of  the  whole  history ;  and  I  can  well  understand  why 
Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  should  have  declared  that  "  infidelity 


44  Paul  the  Missionary. 

has  never  been  able  to  fabricate  a  specious  reply  to  it ;" 
and  why  Adolphe  Monod  should  have  said,  "  Next  to  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  descent  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  Gospel  has  no  testimony  which  equals  that  of 
the  conversion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus."*  "We  have  not  follow- 
ed cunningly  devised  fables !"  We  are  the  disciples  of  one 
who  had  a  right  to  say,  "  I  am  the  Truth  !"  I  close  this 
summary  of  the  incidents  of  Paul's  early  life  with  two  re- 
marks. 

See,  in  the  first  place,  the  wisdom  of  God's  providence. 
Saul,  as  he  himself  tells  us,t  was  "  separated "  from  his 
birth  for  the  work  of  apostleship  ;  but  though  he  was  ad- 
vancing toward  middle -age  before  he  was  actually  con- 
verted, yet  all  his  intervening  history  was  in  reality  a  prep- 
aration for  the  true  labor  of  his  life.  His  birth  and  boy- 
hood in  a  Greek  city  gave  him  familiarity  with  that  lan- 
guage which  he  was  to  use  in  all  his  journeyings.  His  in- 
timate acquaintance  with  the  system  of  the  Pharisees,  ac- 
quired in  the  school  of  Gamaliel,  enabled  him  to  cope  with 
those  Judaizing  adversaries  with  whom  he  had  ever3rwhere 
to  contend.  His  skill  in  handicraft  gave  him  a  sturdy  inde- 
pendence in  those  great  commercial  cities  where  so  many 
of  his  years  were  spent ;  and  his  Roman  citizenship  entitled 
him  to  protection  from  wanton  insult  or  cruel  injustice 
throughout  the  Empire.  A  "  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews,  yet 
at  the  same  time  a  native  Hellenist  and  a  Roman  citizen, 
he  combined  in  himself,"  as  Dr.  Schaff  has  said,  "  the  three 
great  nationalities  of  the  ancient  world,  and  was  endowed 
with  all  the  natural  qualifications  for  a  universal  apostle- 
ship."1:     Thus  He  who  girded  Cyrus  when  he  knew  it  not, 

*  "Saint  Paul,  Cinq  Discours, par  Adolphe  Monod,"  p. 94. 
I  Gal.  i.,  15. 

J  ''History  of  the  Christian  Church,"  by  Philip  Schaff,  D.D.,  vol.  i., 
p.  68. 


Early  History  and  Conversion  of  Paul.         45 

was  also  preparing  Saul  for  his  after  work,  and  it  is  one  of 
the  richest  consolations  of  the  Christian  to  know  that  his 
life  as  a  whole  is  under  God's  plan,  and  that  even  the  ex- 
periences through  which  he  has  been  brought  before  his 
conversion  are  lifted  up  into,  and  utilized  in,  his  higher  and 
nobler  history  as  a  disciple  of  Jesus. 

But  my  final  reference  must  be  to  the  Lord  himself.  See 
here  the  riches  of  the  Redeemer's  grace.  Had  the  Chris- 
tians then  in  Jerusalem  been  asked  to  name  the  man  who 
was  least  likely  to  become  a  convert  to  the  faith,  they  might 
probably  have  specified  Saul  of  Tarsus.  Yet  observe  how 
thoroughly  he  is  changed,  and  how  the  transformation  was 
effected  by  the  might  of  gentleness.  Nothing  is  to  me 
more  remarkable  in  the  whole  narrative  than  the  tenderness 
of  the  remonstrance  which  our  Lord  addressed  to  the  per- 
secutor. If  this  had  been  a  purely  imaginary  history,  the 
author,  who  thought  of  making  Christ  appear  at  all,  would 
have  almost  certainly  represented  him  as  coming  with 
"  flaming  thunder-bolt  in  his  red  right-hand,"  and  made  him 
speak  words  of  denunciation.  But  not  thus  did  he  show 
himself ;  he  came  in  love ;  he  spoke  in  gentleness,  and  the 
heart  which  might  have  been  hardened  by  condemnation 
was  melted  by  mercy.  Hence,  as  if  overwhelmed  with  the 
memory  of  this  gracious  tenderness,  Paul  said,  long  after, 
"I  obtained  mercy,  that  in  me  first"  (that  is,  not  first  in 
time,  but  first  in  the  degree  of  guilt)  "  Jesus  Christ  might 
show  forth  all  long-suffering,  for  a  pattern  to  them  which 
should  hereafter  believe  on  him  to  life  everlasting."*  If, 
therefore,  Paul  found  mercy,  who  needs  despair  ?  Sinner, 
who  art  trembling  at  the  remembrance  of  thy  guilt,  and 
over^vhelmed  with  a  sense  of  thy  danger,  take  heart  from 
such  a  history  as  this,  and  go  to  Christ  in  the  fullest  as- 

*  I  Tim.  i.,  16. 


46  Paul  the  Missionary. 

surance  that  he  will  not  cast  thee  out.  Humble  thyself  be- 
fore him.  Take  him  as  thy  Lord  and  Saviour.  Cry,  "  What 
wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?"  and  he  who  led  Paul  through 
darkness  into  light  will  guide  thee  also  into  safety,  into 
happiness,  and  into  usefulness. 


III. 

DAMASCUS.— ARABIA.— JER  USALEAL 
Acts  ix.,  19-30. 

IN  seeking  to  compress  into  one  discourse  a  full  presen- 
tation of  the  nature  of  Paul's  conversion,  and  of  its  im- 
portance as  a  public  event  in  the  history  of  the  Church, 
we  were  compelled  to  make  only  the  briefest  reference  to 
the  visit  paid  to  the  new  disciple  by  Ananias.  That  visit, 
however,  was  too  significant  to  be  thus  slightly  treated;  and 
therefore  we  return  to  the  history,  that  we  may  set  it  in 
its  proper  light.  Ananias  is  called  by  Luke  "a  certain 
disciple  ;"  and  he  is  described  by  Paul  himself  as  "  a  de- 
vout man,  according  to  the  law,  having  a  good  report  of  all 
the  Jews  which  dwelt  at  Damascus.'"*  Either,  therefore, 
he  was  one  of  those  who  had  fled  from  the  persecution 
which  had  burst  forth  in  Jerusalem,  or,  as  is  more  probable, 
he  was  an  early  adherent  of  the  faith,  who,  though  a  stated 
resident  in  Damascus,  had  been  brought  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  truth,  during  a  visit  made  by  him  to  Jerusalem  at  some 
one  of  the  annual  festivals.  Putting  together  the  three  nar- 
ratives which  are  incorporated  in  this  one  book  of  the  Acts, 
we  learn  that  Ananias  was  commissioned  in  a  vision  to  go 
to  a  certain  house  in  a  certain  street  in  Damascus,  where 
he  would  find  Paul ;  and  that,  when  he  expressed  reluctance 
on  the  ground  of  his  knowledge  of  the  intolerant  errand  on 

*  Acts  ix»,  10;   xxii.,  12. 
3 


48  Paul  the  Missionary. 

which  Paul  had  come,  he  was  reassured  by  these  words : 
"  Go  thy  way  :  for  he  is  a  chosen  vessel  unto  me,  to  bear 
my  name  before  the  Gentiles,  and  kings,  and  the  children  of 
Israel :  for  I  will  show  him  how  great  things  he  must  suffer 
for  my  name's  sake."*  It  is  further  evident  that,  even  be- 
fore Ananias  had  received  that  command,  Paul  had  been,  in 
a  vision,  prepared  for  his  appearance,  and  had  already  heard 
from  the  Lord's  own  lips  the  forecast  of  his  work  among  the 
Gentiles  which  had  been  given  to  Ananias.f  Thus  provi- 
sion was  made  for  a  double  authentication.  Ananias,  find- 
ing external  things  to  be  as  God  had  described,  was  reas- 
sured in  giving  the  spiritual  commission ;  and  Paul,  recog- 
nizing in  Ananias  the  man  whom  he  had  seen  in  his  vision, 
had  a  new  endorsement  given  to  his  apostleship. 

Following  implicitly  the  directions  which  he  had  received, 
Ananias  went  along  Straight  Street — then  a  noble  thorough- 
fare, a  hundred  feet  in  width,  and  divided  by  Corinthian 
colonnades  into  three  avenues,  but  now  a  narrow  lane$ — 
to  the  house  of  Judas,  where  he  found  the  man  of  Tarsus, 
whose  sight  he  was  the  means  of  restoring,  to  whom  he  im- 
parted the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  whom  he  introduced 
by  baptism  into  the  Church  of  Christ. 

Now  let  us  weigh  well  the  import  of  all  this  :  Ananias 
was  not  the  instrument  of  Paul's  conversion ;  for  before  he 
appeared  upon  the  scene  Paul  had  been  already  converted. 
Paul  could  not  call  any  man  his  spiritual  father;  but  he 
could,  and  I  have  no  doubt  did,  regard  with  peculiar  ten- 
derness the  disciple  who  first  saluted  him  as  a  "  brother  "§ 
in  the  Lord ;  and  who  not  only  baptized  him  with  water, 
but  was  also  the  human  agent  in  administering  unto  him 
the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     He  was   to  the   apostle 

*  Acts  ix.,  15,  16.  t  Acts  ix.,  12  ;  xxvi.,  16-18. 

J  Lewin,  vol.  i.,  p.  69.  §  Acts  ix.,  17  ;  xxii.,  13. 


Damascus. — Arabia. — Jerusalem.  49 

what  Peter  and  John  had  been  to  the  Samaritans  when,  af- 
ter the  conversion  of  that  people  through  the  preaching  of 
PhiHp,  these  apostles  went  down  and  "  laid  their  hands  on 
them,  and  they  received  the  Holy  Ghost.'"*^  The  spiritual 
crisis  was  over  before  Ananias  appeared,  and  he  did  noth- 
ing, therefore,  to  produce  that ;  but  in  administering  to  him 
the  ordinance  of  baptism,  and  securing  for  him  a  welcome 
from  the  believers,  he  did  contribute  to  the  comfort  and  use- 
fulness of  Paul.  Nor  let  any  one  imagine  that  this  was  a 
small  service,  or  that  there  was  little  need  for  any  supernat- 
ural agency  to  prepare  him  for  rendering  it.  When  one  is 
shunned  by  others,  he  is  apt  to  develop  into  a  defiant  and 
exclusive  recluse ;  and  if  Paul  had  not  been  met  by  the  dis- 
ciples in  a  loving  and  trustful  spirit,  he  might  have  become 
cynical,  angular,  or  suspicious.  In  this  way  an  irreparable 
injury  might  have  been  done  to  him  in  the  very  infancy  of 
his  new  life ;  but  the  kindness  of  Ananias  saved  him  from 
that  peril.  Then,  on  the  other  side,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  there  was  ground  for  the  exercise  of  caution  ;  and  the 
fact  that,  even  after  he  had  received  the  divine  command  to 
go  to  Paul,  Ananias  hesitated  until  he  obtained  the  strong- 
est assurance  of  his  safety,  is  a  proof  that  nothing  short  of 
such  a  supernatural  commission  as  that  which  was  given  to 
him  would  have  succeeded  in  removing  his  misgivings.  The 
careful  student  will  see  a  close  parallel  between  the  details 
connected  with  this  visit  of  Ananias  to  Paul  and  those  re- 
corded in  relation  to  that  of  Peter  to  Cornelius.  As  Cor- 
nelius was  directed  to  send  for  Peter,  so  Paul  was  prepared 
for  the  arrival  of  Ananias  ;  and  as  the  scruples  of  Peter 
were  banished  by  the  vision  on  the  house-top,  so  those  of 
Ananias  were  silenced  by  the  Lord's  declaration  that  Paul 
was  his  chosen  vessel  to  bear  his  name  before  the  Gentiles ; 

*  Acts  viii.,  14-17. 


50  Paul  the  Missionary. 

while  in  both  cases  the  baptism  with  the  Holy  Ghost  pre- 
ceded the  baptism  with  water ;  and  from  both  alike  we 
learn  that,  while  there  is  a  preparation  of  the  convert  for 
entering  the  Church,  there  is  frequently  no  less  needed  by 
the  Church  a  preparation  for  his  reception. 

Soon  after  his  baptism  Paul  preached  in  the  synagogues 
of  Damascus,  declaring  that  Messiah  is  the  Son  of  God, 
with  such  effect  that  his  hearers  w^ere  filled  with  amaze- 
ment, and  said,  "  Is  not  this  he  that  destroyed  them  which 
called  on  this  name  in  Jerusalem,  and  came  hither  for  that 
intent,  that  he  might  bring  them  bound  unto  the  chief 
priests  ?"  If  we  had  no  other  record  of  his  early  Christian 
experiences  than  that  which  Luke  has  given  us,  we  might 
have  supposed  that  he  continued  this  work  among  his  coun- 
trymen until,  being  threatened  with  death,  he  was,  as  it  were, 
smuggled  out  of  Damascus  by  the  brethren,  and  that  he 
then  went  to  Jerusalem.  But  in  his  letter  to  the  Galatians* 
he  tells  us  that  before  he  proceeded  to  Jerusalem,  as  Luke 
has  described,  he  went  from  Damascus  into  Arabia,  and  that 
it  was  not  till  after  three  years  (which,  however,  in  the  Jew- 
ish mode  of  reckoning,  may  be  simply  one  full  year  and  parts 
of  two  others)  that  he  went  up  to  the  Holy  City.  He  does 
not  inform  us  either  to  what  particular  locality  in  Arabia  he 
withdrew,  or  what  was  the  purpose  of  his  seclusion.  But,  in- 
asmuch as,  when  Elijah  was  in  Horeb,  he  was  commanded 
to  return  to  Israel  by  way  of  Damascus — and  we  may  thus 
infer  that  the  former  locality  was  accessible  from  the  latter 
— and  inasmuch  as  that  whole  district  was  associated  with 
some  of  the  most  stirring  passages  in  the  histories  of  Moses 
and  Elijah,  we  are  at  liberty  to  believe  that  like  them  Paul 
also  was  led  to  "  the  mount  of  God,"  there  to  receive  the 
highest  of  all  training  for  his  future  work,  in  close  and  con- 

*  Gal.i.,  17,  i8. 


Damascus. — Arabia. — Jerusalem.  51 

stant  fellowship  with  his  Lord.  He  was  to  be  Christ's  mes- 
senger to  the  Gentiles  :  it  was,  therefore,  needful  that  he 
should  be  withdrawn  for  a  season  from  the  sphere  of  those 
Jewish  influences  which  were  so  powerful  in  the  mother 
Church.  He  was  to  be  an  apostle  equal  in  dignity  and 
authority  to  the  others  ;  it  was,  therefore,  essential  that,  alto- 
gether independently  of  them,  or  of  any  human  agency,  he 
should  be  instructed  in  the  facts  of  Gospel  history  j  and  it 
was  at  this  time  and  in  Arabia,  as  we  believe,  that  he  re- 
ceived those  special  communications  to  two  of  which  he 
refers  in  his  first  letter  to  the  Corinthians,  in  connection 
with  his  rehearsal  of  the  institution  of  the  Supper,  and  his 
summary  of  the  truths  which  he  had  preached  among  them.* 
There  were  thus  in  his  Arabian  retirement  both  negative 
and  positive  advantages,  which  signally  fitted  him  for  the 
service  to  which  he  had  been  appointed. 

How  long  he  remained  in  Arabia  cannot  now  be  certainly 
determined  ;  but  that  he  spent  there  the  larger  part  of  the 
interval  between  his  conversion  and  his  visit  to  Jerusalem 
seems  to  me  probable,  for  these  two  reasons  :  first,  because 
such  preaching  as  his  would  have  been  sure  to  bring  the 
antagonism  of  the  Jews  to  a  head  in  a  much  shorter  time 
than  three  years,  even  if  we  give  the  briefest  interpretation 
to  that  phrase  ;  and  second,  because,  if  he  had  been  so  long 
a  public  preacher  of  the  faith  in  Damascus,  that  fact,  con- 
sidering the  frequency  of  intercourse  between  the  two  cities, 
and  the  prominence  which  belonged  to  him  as  the  legate  of 
the  high-priest,  would  certainly  have  become  known  to  the 
Christians  in  Jerusalem.  So  far  from  that  being  the  case, 
however,  the  believers  there  do  not  seem  to  have  heard  any- 
thing about  him  ;  for  when  he  came  to  them  in  person,  they 
viewed  him  with  suspicion,  and  were  very  slow  to  receive 

*  I  Cor.  xi.,  23  ;  xv.,  3. 


52  Paul  the  Missionary. 

him  into  their  confidence.  I  am  therefore  disposed  to  be- 
lieve that,  in  the  first  instance,  he  abode  with  the  brethren 
at  Damascus  only  a  very  short  while  after  his  conversion  ; 
that  afterward  he  went,  for  probably  eighteen  months,  into 
Arabia,  where  he  received  from  the  Lord  himself  a  revela- 
tion of  the  facts  of  his  personal  ministry ;  and  that  at  the 
end  of  this  time  of  seclusion  he  returned  to  Damascus, 
where  he  began  anew  to  preach,  this  time  with  such  added 
power  that  his  Jewish  antagonists  plotted  to  take  away  his 
life. 

If  this  view  be  correct,  then  it  will  be  most  natural  to  put 
his  journey  to  Arabia,  and  sojourn  in  it,  between  the  twenty- 
first  and  twenty-second  verses  of  Luke's  history  f  and  the 
revelations  made  to  him  in  his  retirement  will  explain  the 
distinct  advance  in  his  preaching  which  seems  to  be  indi- 
cated in  the  latter  verse,  as  well  as  the  greater  intensity  of 
the  result  by  which  it  was  followed.  At  first  he  preached 
"  Christ,  that  he  is  the  Son  of  God,"  setting  himself,  as  I 
judge  the  meaning  to  be,  to  prove  that  Messiah  is  a  divine 
person.  That,  however,  might  be  done  simply  in  the  way  of 
exposition  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures;  and,  though 
the  doctrine  sought  to  be  established  was  one  peculiar  to 
the  Christians,  we  can  easily  imagine  that  Jews  would  listen 
to  its  promulgation  with  at  least  the  interest  of  curiosity,  to 
which  would  be  added  amazement  that  Paul  should  be  its 
advocate.  But  in  the  twenty -second  verse  it  is  affirmed 
that  "he  proved  that  Jesus  is  very  Christ."  Now, to  do  that 
effectively  requires  three  things :  namely,  an  acquaintance 
with  the  Messianic  prophecies ;  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  of 
Jesus's  life  ;  and  a  perception  of  the  correspondence  be- 
tween the  two,  so  that  the  facts  are  seen  to  be  the  fulfilment 
of  the  prophecies.     But  up  till  the  time  of  his  conversion,  so 

*  Acts  ix. 


Damascus. — Arabia. — Jerusalem.  53 

far  as  appears,  Paul  was  largely  ignorant  of  the  incidents 
connected  with  the  birth,  baptism,  and  public  ministry  of 
the  Lord  Jesus ;  and  as  he  was  far  removed  from  other 
competent  instructors,  some  such  revelations  from  the  Lord 
as  those  which  we  have  supposed  that  he  received  in  Arabia 
would  be  needed  to  make  him  familiar  with  them.  Now, 
if  these  revelations  were  actually  given  him  at  this  particu- 
lar time,  we  have  at  once  the  explanation  of  this  double  de- 
scription of  his  preaching  in  the  synagogues  of  Damascus. 
To  proclaim  that  "  Jesus  is  the  very  Messiah  "  was  some- 
thing more  than  to  declare  that  Messiah  is  the  Son  of  God. 
The  latter  is  the  major  premise  of  a  syllogism,  of  which  the 
former  is  the  minor,  and  the  conclusion  from  both  is  that 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  as  the  Messiah,  is  the  Son  of  God.  The 
exposition  of  the  one  would  awaken  astonishment ;  the  proof 
of  the  other  would  create  animosity ;  and  the  conclusion 
from  both  would  rouse  all  the  fury  of  the  Jewish  heart.  To 
hear  his  own  Scriptures  quoted  in  demonstration  of  the  fact 
that  the  Nazarene  was  the  Son  of  God,  was  more  than  the 
Pharisee  could  endure.  It  was  wresting  his  very  stronghold 
from  him ;  and  therefore,  when  he  found  that  the  argument 
was  against  him,  he  took  counsel  to  kill  the  reasoner.  It  is 
always  easier  to  use  physical  force  than  intellectual ;  and 
they  who  are  most  conscious  of  deficiency  in  the  latter  re- 
sort most  readily  to  the  former.  He  who,  like  John  Locke, 
"  thinks  himself  more  concerned  to  quit  and  renounce  any 
opinion  of  his  own,  than  to  oppose  that  of  another,  when 
truth  is  against  it,"*  will  welcome  light  when  and  whence 
soever  it  comes ;  but  he  who  fears  to  face  the  day,  or  seeks 
to  evade  discussion,  does  so  either  because  he  has  some 
consciousness  of  weakness,  or  because  some  party  prejudice 
is  assailed  or  some  selfish  craft  endangered.     In  any  case, 

*  •'  Essay  concerning  Human  Understanding,"  Epistle  to  the  Reader. 


54  Paul  the  Missionary. 

to  war  against  argument  by  force  is  as  unavailing  as  it  is 
irrational ;  for  opinion  is  too  impalpable  to  be  pierced  by 
any  sword  of  steel,  and  truth  has  a  vitality  as  eternal  as 
God. 

When  the  disciples  in  Damascus  became  aware  of  Paul's 
danger,  and  knew  that  the  gates  of  the  city  were  watched 
night  and  day  to  prevent  his  escape,  they  took  him  to  a 
friend  who  lived  in  a  house  one  of  whose  walls  was  at  the 
same  time  the  wall  of  the  city,  and  through  a  window  which 
looked  out  into  the  open  country  they  let  him  down  in  a 
basket  like  those  which  even  yet  are  employed  in  these 
parts  for  hoisting  and  lowering  purposes.  The  details  of 
this  adventure  are  thus  given  by  Paul  himself :  "In  Da- 
mascus the  governor  under  Aretas  the  king  kept  the  city  of 
the  Damascenes  with  a  garrison,  desirous  to  apprehend  me  : 
and  through  a  window  in  a  basket  was  I  let  down  by  the 
wall,  and  escaped  his  hands."*  But  the  very  particularity  of 
this  statement  has  occasioned  considerable  difficulty ;  for  in 
no  ancient  history  is  there  any  record  of  Damascus  having 
been  about  this  time  under  the  power,  or  in  the  possession  of 
Aretas,  who  was  King  of  Arabia  Petr^ea.  When  it  came  into 
the  hands  of  the  Romans  it  was  assigned  to  the  province  of 
Syria  ;  and  it  does  seem  rather  singular  to  find  it  spoken  of 
here  as  governed  by  an  ethnarch  under  Aretas.  But  it  ought 
to  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  all  histories  there  are  frequent 
gaps  which  have  to  be  filled  in  from  other  sources  ;  and 
there  are  traces  of  the  existence  of  such  a  hiatus  here,  with, 
moreover,  certain  indications  on  both  sides  of  it  which  render 
it  highly  probable  that  Aretas  did  occupy  Damascus  about 
this  very  date.  Thus  among  extant  coins  of  Damascus  there 
are  some  bearing  the  image  of  Augustus  and  others  that  of 
Tiberius,  and  others  again  having  that  of  Nero  ;  but  none 

*  2  Cor.  xi.,  32, 33. 


m 


WALL    OF   DAMASCUS. 


Damascus. — Arabia. — Jerusalem.  55 

have  been  discovered  bearing  the  likeness  of  either  of  the  in- 
tervening emperors,  Caligula  or  Claudius.*  Of  course,  this  is 
not  in  itself  conclusive ;  for  coins  with  the  likenesses  of  those 
two  emperors  may  have  been  in  existence,  though  none  have 
been  found  ;  and  it  would  be  as  unsafe  for  us  to  reason 
from  their  absence  alone,  as  it  is  for  the  geologist  to  depend 
entirely  on  what  he  calls  "negative  evidence."  But  if  there 
should  be  other  circumstances  which  make  it  not  improbable 
that  the  city  was,  during  part  of  those  reigns,  in  other  hands, 
then  this  absence  of  the  coins  will  come  in  as  a  confirma- 
tion. Now  there  are  such  circumstances ;  for  about  this 
time  there  was  war  between  Aretas  and  that  Herod  whose 
name  is  stained  by  the  murder  of  John  the  Baptist.  There 
had  been  some  dispute  between  them  as  to  some  matter  of 
boundary,  and  that  had  been  aggravated  by  the  fact  that 
Herod,  who  had  been  married  to  the  daughter  of  Aretas, 
had  divorced  her,  in  order  to  take  Herodias,  his  own  niece 
and  the  wife  of  his  brother  Philip,  as  his  paramour.  In  the 
fortune  of  war  the  army  of  Herod  had  been  defeated ;  but 
as  he  was  a  favorite  with  the  emperor,  Tiberius  made  the 
quarrel  his  own,  and  ordered  his  general,  Vitellius,  to  pro- 
ceed to  his  assistance  and  take  Aretas  either  dead  or  alive. 
Vitellius,  however,  had  a  personal  grudge  against  Herod, 
and  made  no  great  haste  to  obey  the  imperial  commands. 
He  went,  indeed,  very  leisurely  about  the  affair,  and  while 
he  was  on  his  way,  the  news  of  the  death  of  the  emperor 
(a.d.  37)  reached  him.  Upon  hearing  this  he  immediately 
suspended  his  march,  and  waited  for  orders  from  the  suc- 
cessor of  Tiberius.  It  is  by  no  means  improbable,  there- 
fore, that,  just  at  this  juncture,  Aretas  having  been  relieved 
from  all  opposition,  took  possession  of  Damascus,  which  lay 
in   the  immediate   neighborhood  of  his  own  territory,  and 


*  Lewin,  vol.  i.,  p.  68. 


56  Paul  the  Missionary. 

was  perhaps,  at  one  time,  included  in  it.  Some,  indeed,  have 
supposed  that,  as  Aretas  had  been  most  shamefully  used  by 
Herod,  and  as  Vitellius  was  known  to  have  no  good-will  to 
the  Jewish  monarch,  the  Roman  general  took  the  opportu- 
nity, which  the  emperor's  death  afforded,  of  doing  justice  to 
the  one,  and  taking  vengeance  on  the  other,  by  giving  to 
Aretas  the  sovereignty  of  Damascus.  Others  have  thought 
that,  as  the  Emperor  Caligula  did  in  many  instances  reverse 
the  policy  of  Tiberius,  especially  in  Eastern  affairs,  he  may 
have  given  Damascus  to  Aretas.  Thus,  then,  stands  the 
case.  There  is  no  mention  made  by  ancient  historians  of 
this  occupation  of  Damascus  by  Aretas  ;  but  there  is  noth- 
ing said  by  them  which  makes  such  an  occupation  impossi- 
ble, while  other  circumstances  recorded  by  them  are  such 
as  to  leave  room  for  it,  and,  indeed,  to  make  it  extremely 
probable. 

But  now  let  us  follow  the  night-wrapped  fugitive.  He 
took  his  way  to  Jerusalem,  retracing  his  steps  along  that 
road  whereon  he  had  been  some  time  before  confronted  by 
the  Lord.  Perhaps  the  contrast  between  the  two  journeys 
forced  itself  upon  his  reflection.  Then  he  was  the  leader 
of  an  important  expedition,  trusted  by  the  authorities  of  the 
Jewish  Church,  and  looking  forward  to  some  place  of  dis- 
tinction in  the  council  of  his  nation  ;  now  he  is  going  forth 
an  outcast,  disowned  by  his  countrymen,  and  fleeing  for  his 
life.  Then  he  was  surrounded  by  a  band  of  ardent  follow- 
ers and  admirers,  each  of  whom  esteemed  it  an  honor  to 
have  a  place  under  his  command ;  now  he  is  alone  and 
friendless,  with  "none  so  poor  as  do  him  reverence." 
Alone  ?  Friendless  ?  Nay,  that  is  but  to  judge  from  ex- 
ternal appearance ;  for,  though  invisible,  his  Lord  is  near, 
filling  the  silence  for  him  with  his  fellowship,  and  brighten- 
ing the  darkness  for  him  with  the  light  of  his  countenance. 
He  has  made  what  the  world  calls  a  tremendous  sacrifice. 


Damascus. — Arabia. — Jerusalem.  57 

Yet  there  are  no  misgivings  in  his  heart ;  no  lingering  looks 
behind  at  that  which  he  has  left ;  no  vain  regrets  over  what 
"  might  have  been  ;"  but  he  goes  steadily  forward,  trusting 
in  the  guidance  and  protection  of  Him  "  whose  he  is  and 
whom  he  serves." 

His  motive  in  going  to  Jerusalem  at  this  time  was,  as  he 
tells  the  Galatians, "  to  see  Peter."*  He  may  have  heard 
much  about  that  ardent  and  illustrious  apostle  from  the 
brethren  at  Damascus ;  and  if,  as  we  have  conjectured,  he 
had  received  the  facts  of  the  Gospel  narrative  by  revela- 
tion from  the  Lord  himself  in  Arabia,  there  would  be  much 
in  them  to  awaken  in  him  an  eager  desire  to  make  the  ac- 
quaintance of  one  who,  in  spite  of  waywardness  and  rash- 
ness, was  still  so  tenderly  beloved  by  the  Master.  But  when 
he  arrived  at  the  Holy  City  it  seemed  as  if  his  purpose 
would  never  be  accomplished;  for  though  he  attempted  to 
join  himself  to  the  disciples,  they  treated  him  with  coldness 
and  suspicion.  "  They  were  afraid  of  him,  and  believed  not 
that  he  was  a  disciple."  This  conduct  on  their  part  was 
natural, for  they  had  not  forgotten  how  "he  had  persecuted 
the  Church  and  wasted  it ;"  but  it  was  neither  brotherly  nor 
becoming.  If  Jesus,  their  Lord,  had  received  him,  who  were 
they  that  they  should  reject  him  ?  Was  it  not  the  glory  of 
their  Master  that  he  was  the  friend  of  sinners  ?  Why  then 
should  they  turn  away  from  the  overtures  of  Paul  ?  Some- 
thing like  such  musings  as  these  seems  to  have  filled  the 
mind  of  Barnabas,  for  he  took  him  by  the  hand  and  led  him 
to  the  apostles,  dwelling  much,  in  his  introduction  of  him 
to  their  notice,  on  the  fact  that  the  Lord  had  appeared  unto 
him,  and  on  his  boldness  as  a  preacher  in  the  synagogues 
of  Damascus.  This  opened  up  his  way  to  their  confidence, 
and  we  may  well  believe  that,  on  discovering  Paul's  real 

*Gal.i.,  18. 


58  Paul  the  Missionary. 

character,  the  warm-hearted  Peter,  eager  to  make  amends 
for  his  former  coldness,  took  him  to  his  own  home,  and  en- 
tertained him  with  the  greatest  hospitahty.  Thus,  at  the 
very  outset  of  his  career,  he  who  was  to  be  the  apostle  of 
the  Gentiles  was  brought  into  closest  fellowship  with  him 
who  was  the  apostle  of  the  circumcision.  Their  paths, 
though  occasionally  intersecting  each  other,  were  to  be  quite 
distinct ;  but  they  both  intensely  loved  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  were  eager  to  advance  his  cause.  Sometimes  they  might 
seem  to  be  in  antagonism  ;  but  those  days  of  pleasant  fel- 
lowship, never  to  be  forgotten  by  either,  would  enable  them 
to  understand  each  other,  and  would  give  them  implicit  con- 
fidence in  each  other.  The  only  other  apostle  whom  Paul 
saw  at  this  time  was  James,  the  kinsman  of  the  Lord  ;  but 
it  does  not  appear  that  the  intimacy  with  him  was  so  close 
as  it  was  with  Peter,  with  whom  he  abode  fifteen  days. 

It  would  be  wrong  to  imagine,  however,  that  Paul  was 
content  with  this  private  fellowship  with  Peter,  and  did  no 
public  work  in  Jerusalem  at  this  time.  On  the  contrary,  he 
could  not  be  idle ;  and  being  a  Hellenist  himself,  he  found 
his  special  sphere  among  that  class,  for  we  read  that  "he 
disputed  with  the  Grecians."  The  word  "disputed"  is  the 
same  as  that  which  is  used  to  describe  Stephen's  labors.  It 
implies  that  he  began  to  preach  in  a  public  place,  and,  like 
our  modern  missionaries  in  the  bazaars  of  Indian  cities, 
gave  opportunity  for  discussion.  But  those  who  entered  the 
lists  with  him  could  not  stand  before  him,  and  began  to  plot 
against  his  life.  This  led  to  his  departure  from  Jerusalem, 
as  a  similar  conspiracy  against  him  had  driven  him  from 
Damascus.  But  he  went  away  with  reluctance.  Perhaps  he 
had  felt  a  little  humiliated  at  the  manner  of  his  escape  from 
Damascus — as  indeed  his  mention  of  it  to  the  Corinthians 
in  immediate  connection  with  infirmities*  seems  to  suggest 

*  2  Cor.  xi.,  30,  32,  33. 


Damascus. — Arabia. — Jerusalem.  59 

— and  he  did  not  care  to  go  through  a  similar  experience 
again.  Perhaps  there  was  a  desire  within  him  to  prove  his 
zeal  as  a  disciple  in  the  very  place  in  which  his  fury  as  a 
persecutor  had  been  most  conspicuous.  But  for  whatever 
reason,  it  was  not  until  he  received  a  peremptory  command 
from  the  Lord  that  he  consented  to  withdraw.  This  is  evi- 
dent from  his  speech  made  long  after  to  the  mob  from  the 
castle  stairs  of  the  same  city, in  which  he  says, "And  it  came 
to  pass,  that,  when  I  was  come  again  to  Jerusalem,  even 
while  I  prayed  in  the  temple,  I  was  in  a  trance  ;  and  saw 
him  saying  unto  me.  Make  haste,  and  get  thee  quickly  out 
of  Jerusalem :  for  they  will  not  receive  thy  testimony  con- 
cerning me.  And  I  said,  Lord,  they  know  that  I  imprisoned 
and  beat  in  every  synagogue  them  that  believed  on  thee : 
and  when  the  blood  of  thy  martyr  Stephen  was  shed,  I  also 
was  standing  by,  and  consenting  unto  his  death,  and  kept 
the  raiment  of  them  that  slew  him.  And  he  said  unto  me, 
Depart :  for  I  will  send  thee  far  hence  unto  the  Gentiles."* 
It  thus  appears  that  Paul  at  first  did  not  wish  to  leave  Jeru- 
salem, but  was  anxious  to  remain  in  it,  that  he  might  as  far 
as  possible  counteract  the  evil  which  he  had  formerly  done 
there.  Probably,  also,  for  he  was  a  Jew  with  all  the  educa- 
tion of  a  strict  Pharisee,  there  may  have  been  within  him  an 
unspoken  reluctance  to  accept  his  mission  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, and  a  desire  to  labor  among  the  Jews.  But  all  these 
feelings,  if  they  did  exist,  were  rebuked  by  the  brief  and 
peremptory  order  that  would  brook  no  parley,  "  Depart :  for 
I  will  send  thee  far  hence  unto  the  Gentiles." 

Some  one  may  be  ready  to  ask  how  these  two  accounts — 
that  in  the  history,  and  that  in  the  speech  just  quoted — can 
possibly  be  consistent  ?  If  Paul  went  from  Jerusalem  be- 
cause the  brethren  there  wished  to  send  him   away  from 

*  Acts  xxii.,  17-21. 


6o  Paul  the  Missionary. 

the  danger  which  was  menacing  his  life,  how  could  he  say 
that  he  left  the  Holy  City  because  the  Lord  commanded 
him  ?  I  answer  by  asking  you  to  look  narrowly  at  the  two 
narratives  themselves.  That  in  the  ninth  chapter  tells  us 
what  the  brethren  did,  and  why  they  did  it.  That  in  the 
twenty-second  chapter  informs  us  why  Paul  consented  to  do 
as  they  advised.  He  had  been  opposed  to  their  suggestion. 
He  had  been  apparently  so  troubled  by  it  as  to  make  it  a 
subject  of  earnest  prayer ;  and  he  yielded  only  after  he  had 
received  the  positive  command  of  the  Lord  to  do  as  they 
had  advised.  So  they  accompanied  him  to  Csesarea,  where 
he  took  ship  for  Tarsus,  his  native  city,  in  which  he  abode 
until,  at  the  summons  of  Barnabas,  he  came  to  do  the  work 
of  the  Lord  in  Antioch. 

You  must  have  observed  that  the  materials  for  the  con- 
nected history  which  I  have  this  evening  endeavored  to  put 
before  you  have  been  drawn  from  different  sections  of  the 
book  of  The  Acts,  from  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  and 
from  the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  Now,  the  re- 
lation of  these  several  writings  to  each  other  and  to  the 
narrative  as  a  whole,  and  the  proof  which  they  incidentally 
furnish  of  the  credibility  of  the  history  itself,  have  been  set 
forth  in  the  most  masterly  manner  by  Paley  in  his  "  Horas 
Paulinae,"  and  perhaps  this  may  be  the  best  opportunity 
which  may  arise  for  drawing  your  attention  to  that  admira- 
ble treatise.  Its  author,  who  has  been  followed  in  the  same 
line  by  Birks,  in  his  "  Horae  Apostolicae,"  and  by  Blunt  in 
his  "  Scriptural  Coincidences,"  sets  himself  to  bring  before 
his  readers  what  he  has  called  "  undesigned  coincidences  " 
between  the  history  of  The  Acts  and  the  incidents  referred 
to,  in  passing,  in  the  epistles,  as  also  between  the  statements 
in  the  different  epistles  themselves ;  and  he  shows  that  these 
can  be  accounted  for  only  on  the  theory  that  Luke  and  Paul 
wrote  independently  of  each  other,  and  were  telling  things 


Damascus. — Arabia. — Jerusalem.  6 1 

which  had  actually  happened.  He  does  not  build  so  much 
upon  the  existence  of  coincidences  as  upon  the  incidental 
and  undesigned  character  of  these  coincidences.  He  proves, 
first,  that  The  Acts  could  not  have  been  compiled  by  a  forger 
out  of  the  details  furnished  by  the  epistles ;  next,  that  the 
epistles  could  not  have  been  constructed  by  a  deceiver  out 
of  the  particulars  given  in  The  Acts  ;  and  finally,  that  the 
epistles  and  The  Acts  could  not  have  been  both  the  work 
of  one  writer,  who  had  deliberately  designed  to  make  them 
harmonize  with  each  other.  Then,  by  the  minute  exam- 
ination of  each  epistle  as  compared  with  The  Acts  and 
with  all  the  other  epistles,  he  unfolds  a  number  of  most 
striking  and  generally  overlooked  coincidences,  which  pro- 
duce on  the  mind  of  the  reader  an  impression  not  unlike 
that  which  is  made  on  an  intelligent  jury,  when  the  incident- 
al observation  of  one  witness  supplies  a  link  which  had  been 
felt  to  be  wanting  in  the  testimony  of  another.  As  Dr. 
Kitto  has  well  explained  it :  "  In  the  leading  narrative  in 
The  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  Luke  has  left  a  chasm  which  he 
has  nowhere  else  supplied.  But  that  chasm  we  are  enabled 
to  fill  up  by  the  apostle  himself,  in  letters  which  were  written 
without  any  design  to  complete  the  history  of  Luke.  The 
two  accounts  are  therefore  like  the  two  parts  of  a  tally — nei- 
ther is  complete  without  the  other ;  and  yet,  being  put  to- 
gether, they  so  exactly  fit  into  each  other,  as  to  show  that 
the  one  is  precisely  adjusted  to  and  is  the  counterpart  of 
the  other.  And  as  these  two  parts  are  supplied  by  differ- 
ent persons,  without  the  least  design  of  adapting  them  to 
each  other,  they  show  that  the  writers  had  formed  no  collu- 
sion or  agreement  to  impose  upon  the  world ;  that  they  are 
separate  and  independent  witnesses  ;  that  they  were  honest 
men  ;  and  that  their  narratives  are  true  records."* 

*  "  Daily  Bible  Illustrations,"  vol.  viii.,  pp.  i6o,  i6i. 


62  Paul  the  Missionary.  ^ 

Let  me  give  an  illustration  from  the  ground  over  which 
we  have  come  to-night.  In  the  matter  of  this  journey  to 
Arabia,  which  is  mentioned  by  Paul  in  writing  to  the  Gala- 
tians,  it  is  clear  that  there  was  no  collusion  between  Luke 
and  Paul  to  deceive ;  for,  as  Paley  has  put  it,  "  If  the  narra- 
tive in  The  Acts  had  been  made  up  from  the  epistles,  it  is 
impossible  that  this  journey  should  be  passed  over  in  si- 
lence j  if  the  epistle  had  been  compiled  out  of  what  the 
writer  had  read  of  Paul's  history  in  The  Acts,  it  is  unac- 
countable that  it  should  have  been  inserted."*  Yet  while 
all  design  to  enforce  harmony  between  the  two  is  thus  elim- 
inated, notice  the  fact  that  in  Gal.  i.,  17,  Paul  says,  "I  went 
into  Arabia,  and  retur?ied  again  unto  Damascus."  Now,  in 
his  letter,  Paul  had  not  before  mentioned  Damascus.  Its 
name  comes  in  here  in  the  most  incidental  way.  He  had 
no  need,  for  the  purpose  of  his  argument,  to  refer  to  that 
city  at  all ;  yet  when  alluding  to  his  journey  into  Arabia, 
he  is  carried  on  most  naturally  to  name  the  place  to  which 
he  returned  from  that  country ;  and  he  names  the  city 
which  corresponds  to  that  mentioned  in  the  history  of  his 
conversion. 

A  similar  argument  has  been  raised  by  Paley  on  the 
brevity  of  Paul's  sojourn  at  Jerusalem  at  this  time.  He 
was  there,  as  he  tells  us  in  the  letter  to  the  Galatians,  only 
fifteen  days.  Now  hear  our  author :  "  The  direct  account  of 
the  same  journey  in  Acts  ix.,  28,  determines  nothing  con- 
cerning the  time  of  his  continuance  there ;  or,  rather,  this 
account  taken  by  itself  would  lead  us  to  suppose  that  Paul's 
abode  at  Jerusalem  had  been  longer  than  fifteen  days.  But 
turn  to  the  twenty-second  chapter  of  The  Acts,  and  you  will 
find  a  reference  to  this  visit  to  Jerusalem,  which  plainly  in- 
dicates that  Paul's  visit  must  have  been  of  short  duration  : 

*  "  Horae  Paulinae,"  chap,  v.,  No.  II. 


Damascus. — Arabia. — Jerusalem.  6$ 

m 

'  And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  when  I  was  come  again  to  Jeru- 
salem, even  while  I  prayed  in  the  temple,  I  was  in  a  trance ; 
and  saw  him  saying  unto  me.  Make  haste,  and  get  thee 
quickly  out  of  Jerusalem  :  for  they  wall  not  receive  thy  tes- 
timony concerning  me.'  Here  we  have  the  general  terms 
of  one  text  so  explained  by  a  distant  text  in  the  same  book, 
as  to  bring  an  indeterminate  expression  into  close  conformi- 
ty with  a  specification  delivered  in  another  book  ;  a  species 
of  consistency  not,  I  think,  usually  found  in  fabulous  rela- 
tions."* 

These  are  by  no  means  the  most  striking  results  of  the 
application  of  Paley's  principles  to  the  investigation  of  the 
book  of  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  in  its  relation  to  the  epis- 
tles of  Paul ;  but  if  they  will  serve  to  turn  your  attention  to 
a  valuable  treatise,  now,  I  fear,  too  much  neglected,  I  shall 
be  greatly  delighted.  The  youth  who  peruses  it  with  care 
will  receive  thereby  one  of  the  best  lessons  on  testimony 
which  can  be  given  him ;  and,  indeed,  if  I  were  asked  by 
one  preparing  for  practice  at  the  Bar  to  name  the  best  work 
known  to  me  for  fitting  the  mind  to  analyze  and  compare 
different  instalments  of  evidence,  I  would  reply,  without  a 
moment's  hesitation,  Paley's  "  Horae  Paulina."  But,  irre- 
spective altogether  of  its  value  in  this  subordinate  depart- 
ment, it  gives  the  next  thing  to  moral  certainty  as  to  the 
credibility  of  the  statements  made  both  by  Luke  in  his  nar- 
rative and  by  Paul  in  his  letters.  It  may  require  some  pa- 
tient thought  and  diligent  study  to  master  it  fully ;  but  when 
it  is  mastered  by  a  man,  he  will  be  forever  proof  against  the 
assaults  of  infidelity  on  the  sacred  histories. 

I  conclude  with  three  practical  reflections.  Let  us  learn 
here  the  minute  care  which  God  has  over  his  people.  He 
gives  to  Ananias  the  street  and  the  house  in  the  great  city 

*  "  Horae  Paulinas,"  chap,  v.,  No.  VIII. 


64  Paul  the  Missionary. 

of  Damascus  where  Paul  is  sitting  in  his  blindness,  and 
sends  him  thither  to  his  help.  But  though  the  commission 
came  to  Ananias  supernaturally,  we  must  not  imagine  that 
similar  things — similar,  I  mean,  in  kind,  though  lower  in  de- 
gree— are  not  occurring  now.  Dr.  Thomas  Guthrie  tells  of 
an  old  widow  in  his  countiy  parish  suffering  from  paralysis, 
whom  he  was  led  in  a  remarkable  way  to  visit,  just  in  time 
to  save  her  from  being  burnt  to  death,  and  he  reasons  in 
this  way  about  it:  "By  what  law  of  nature  was  I  moved 
that  day,  instead  of  visiting  other  sick,  to  turn  my  steps  to 
the  dell  and  cottage  of  this  poor  old  woman  ?  By  what  law 
of  nature,  when  I  lingered  on  the  road,  was  I  moved,  without 
the  remotest  idea  of  her  danger,  to  cut  short,  against  all  my 
inclinations,  an  interesting  conversation,  and  hurry  on  to 
the  house,  which  I  reached  just  at  the  very  nick  of  time — 
one  or  two  minutes  later  the  flames  had  caught  her  clothes, 
and  I  had  found  her  in  a  blaze  of  fire."*  You  could  not 
say  that  the  eloquent  minister  was  sent  by  a  miraculous 
message,  and  yet  who  but  a  materialist  can  doubt  that  some- 
how God  moved  him  to  do  as  he  did  ?  And  such  things 
are  happening  continually.  So  let  the  people  of  God  take 
comfort.  Wherever  they  are,  and  whatever  be  their  circum- 
stances, God  knows  everything  about  them  ;  and  in  some 
way  or  other  he  will  manifest  his  care  for  them.  His  let- 
ters are  all  accurately  addressed,  and  none  of  them  go 
astray. 

We  can  see,  also,  in  the  second  place,  how  God  gives  spe- 
cial training  for  special  work.  W^e  have  already  observed 
how,  even  in  his  unconverted  life,  Paul  was  undergoing  prep- 
aration for  his  future  career ;  but  all  that  was  in  a  manner 
external.    An  internal  and  spiritual  fitness  was  still  required, 

*  "  Out  of  Harness,  Sketches  Narrative  and  Descriptive,"  by  Thomas 
Guthrie,  D.D.,  p.  311. 


Damascus. — Arabia. — Jerusalem.  65 

and  that  was  furnished,  not  only  by  his  conversion,  but  also 
by  his  communings  with  the  Lord  in  Arabia.  He  who  would 
preach  the  Gospel  with  power  must  be  himself  a  believer 
in  the  Lord.  The  secret  of  true,  heart-stirring  eloquence 
in  the  pulpit  is,  next  after  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that 
which  the  French  Abbe  has  very  happily  called  "  the  accent 
of  conviction  "  in  the  speaker.  Behind  every  appeal  that 
Paul  made  to  sinners,  there  was  the  memory  of  that  won- 
derful experience  through  which  he  passed  on  his  way  to 
Damascus;  and  therefore  we  are  not  surprised  that  he  so 
preached  as  either  to  secure  men's  faith  or  to  rouse  their 
antagonism.  But  his  conversion  alone,  without  his  Arabian 
revelations,  would  not  have  made  him  the  apostle  he  became. 
In  the  desert  he  met  his  Lord,  and  received  from  him 
many  important  spiritual  communications.  There,  too,  he 
meditated  on  the  truths  revealed  to  him,  and  poured  out  his 
heart  in  prayer  for  a  thorough  understanding  of  their  mean- 
ing and  a  full  realization  of  their  power.  Thus  he  came 
back  to  Damascus,  if  not  with  a  face  glowing  like  that  of 
Moses  when  he  descended  from  Sinai,  at  least  with  a  heart 
filled  and  fired  with  love  to  Him  who  had  there  unfolded  to 
him  the  mysteries  of  his  Gospel.  Now,  what  Paul  thus  re- 
ceived from  the  Lord  has  been  given  to  us  by  evangelists 
and  apostles  in  the  New  Testament  Scriptures.  Our  Ara- 
bia, therefore,  will  be  the  study  and  the  closet  in  which  we 
pore  over  these  precious  pages,  and  seek  to  comprehend 
their  many-sided  significance,  as  well  as  to  imbibe  the  spirit 
by  which  they  are  pervaded.  He  who  vv^ould  preach  to 
others  must  be  much  alone  with  his  Bible  and  his  Lord  ; 
else,  when  he  appears  before  his  people,  he  will  send  them 
to  sleep  with  his  pointless  platitudes  or  starve  them  with 
his  empty  conceits.  Get  you  to  Arabia,  then,  ye  who  would 
become  the  instructors  of  your  fellow-men !  Get  you  to  the 
closet  and  the  study !     Give  your  days  and  nights  to  the  in- 


66  Paul  the  Missionary. 

vestigation  of  this  Book;  and  let  everything  you  produce 
from  it  be  made  to  glow  with  a  white-heat  in  the  forge  of 
your  own  heart,  and  be  hammered  on  the  anvil  of  your  own 
experience ! 

We  may  learn,  in  the  last  place,  to  give  a  cordial  welcome 
to  new  converts  and  new-comers  in  the  Church.  Ananias 
went  as  soon  as  he  was  sent,  and  said,  "  Brother  Saul."  Oh 
how  these  words  must  have  thrilled  the  heart  of  the  blinded 
one  !  And  how  much  he  would  be  pained  when,  on  his  first 
appearance  as  a  disciple  at  Jerusalem,  the  members  of  the 
mother  Church  stood  aloof  from  him,  and  treated  him  with 
coldness.  Blessings  on  thee,  Barnabas,  for  taking  him  then 
so  warmly  by  the  hand !  Thou  wast  always  a  son  of  con- 
solation, but  never  didst  thou  prove  thy  right  to  that  name 
more  convincingly  than  when  thou  stood'st  the  friend  of  the 
suspected  and  avoided  Paul ! 

But  is  there  not  here  an  example  for  us  ?  How  many, 
especially  in  our  large  cities,  come  and  go  to  and  from  our 
churches  for  weeks,  it  may  be  even  for  months,  without  any 
one  speaking  to  them  a  cheering  word  !  We  may  say,  in- 
deed, that  they  ought  to  make  themselves  known,  and  intro- 
duce themselves  through  some  of  the  evangelical  associa- 
tions to  its  members  ;  and  this,  to  some  extent,  is  true  ;  but 
the  first  advance  should  be  made  by  the  Church ;  and  it 
seems  to  me  that  every  congregation  should  have  a  Barna- 
bas committee,  composed  of  some  of  its  kindliest  members, 
who  should  undertake  this  Christ-like  service.  I  fear  that 
not  a  few  are  annually  lost  by  all  our  city  churches  for  lack 
of  some  one  to  take  them  lovingly  by  the  hand  and  lead 
them  into  those  Christian  circles,  where  they  would  be  re- 
minded of  the  homes  which  they  had  left,  and  shielded  from 
the  dangers  to  which  they  are  exposed. 

How  often,  too,  when  some  one  who  has  been  prominent- 
ly connected  with  a  denomination  that  is  not  generally  con- 


Damascus. — Arabia. — J  erusalem.  6  7 

sidered  evangelical  comes  out  and  declares  himself  for  that 
which  is  counted  orthodox,  he  is  met  with  freezing  suspicion, 
and  kept  at  a  distance  by  the  picket-guard  that  is  always 
peering  out  for  spies ;  or  if  some,  like  Barnabas,  should 
put  themselves  beside  him,  they  will  be  suspected  along 
with  him,  and  draw  down  upon  themselves  abundant  expos- 
tulation. "Wait,"  say  these  cautious  ones,  "until  he  has 
been  duly  quarantined;  let  him  prove  his  steadfastness, 
and  then  we  will  receive  him  ;"  not  seeing  that  their  cold  re- 
serve is  just  the  thing  most  calculated  to  send  him  back. 
So,  again,  in  dealing  with  young  converts,  how  slow  some 
are  to  believe  in  the  genuineness  and  thoroughness  of  God's 
own  work.  It  was  not  so  with  Barnabas,  and  it  ought  not 
to  be  so  with  us.  We  knew  a  good  Christian  lady  who  went 
to  her  pastor  for  the  addresses  of  those  who  were  received 
from  time  to  time  into  the  Church,  that  she  might  personal- 
ly call  upon  them,  and  congratulate  them  on  the  stand  which 
they  had  made.  There  was  a  deaconess  without  the  name  ! 
— a  true  daughter  of  consolation !  and  after  her  visits  the 
friends  to  whom  she  had  spoken  began  to  discover  that 
there  was  more  in  church  fellovv'ship  than  the  mere  sitting 
down  together  at  the  communion-table.  If  there  were  more 
like  her  in  all  our  churches,  these  spiritual  societies  would 
become  more  like  "households  of  faith,"  and  the  coming 
in  of  each  new  member  would  create  a  joy  like  that  which 
hails  the  advent  of  a  new-born  babe  into  every  rightly  con- 
stituted home.  Where  are  ye,  oh  ye  Barnabases  ?  Look 
around,  and  see  if  there  be  not  field  enough  to  -  night  for 
beginning  operations. 


IV. 

A   YEAR  AT  ANTIOCH. 

Acts  xi.,  19  ;  xiii.,  3. 

WE  have  no  means  of  tracing  definitely  the  movements 
of  Paul  during  the  interval  between  his  departure 
from  Caesarea,  and  his  reception  of  that  summons  from  Bar- 
nabas which  brought  him  ultimately  to  Antioch.  The  only 
reference  which  he  makes  to  this  portion  of  his  history  is  in 
these  words:  ^'Afterwards  I  came  into  the  regions  of  Syria 
and  Cilicia  ;  and  was  unknown  by  face  unto  the  churches  of 
Judea  which  were  in  Christ :  but  they  had  heard  only,  That 
he  which  persecuted  us  in  times  past  now  preacheth  the 
faith  which  once  he  destroyed."*  From  this  statement  it 
has  been  conjectured  that,  making  his  head-quarters  in  Tar- 
sus, he  labored  not  in  that  city  alone,  but  in  the  principal 
places  of  these  two  districts  of  Syria  and  Cilicia,  which  were 
so  closely  identified  with  each  other,  that  their  joint  names 
appear  in  history,  as  Howson  has  alleged,!  "  almost  as  a 
generic  geographical  term."  It  may  be,  therefore,  that  at 
this  time  the  apostle  founded  those  churches,  to  which,  as 
well  as  to  the  Gentiles  in  Antioch,  the  first  apostolic  let- 
ter was  addressed. I  Of  one  thing,  however,  we  may  be 
sure,  and  that  is  that  he  was  not  idle.  Perhaps,  beginning 
his  work  of  ministry  first  in  his  own  family,  he  was  now 


*  Gal.]'., 21-23. 

f  "Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,"  vol.  i,,  p.  115. 

X  Acts  XV.,  23. 


A  Year  at  Antioch.  69 

made  a  blessing  to  his  sister.  Perhaps  he  found  a  sphere 
on  the  week-days  in  the  tent -maker's  shop  in  which  he 
wrought  for  his  bread  ;  and  on  the  Sabbath  -  days  in  the 
synagogues,  where  his  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh  were 
wont  to  meet  for  prayer  and  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures. 
But  though  we  cannot  certainly  specify  the  methods  which 
he  adopted,  or  the  places  which  he  visited,  we  may  be  very 
confident  that  by  work,  by  meditation,  and  by  prayer,  he  was 
not  only  meeting  all  the  demands  which  the  present  made 
upon  him,  but  also  "making  himself,"  in  the  noblest  fashion, 
for  the  great  future  that  was  before  him. 

Like  many  another  man,  he  had  to  be  content  to  labor 
for  a  season  in  comparative  obscurity,  though  conscious  all 
the  time  of  the  possibilities  that  were  within  him,  and  see- 
ing continually,  in  the  dim  and  shadowy  beyond,  a  vague 
outline  of  the  greatness  which  he  was  yet  to  attain.  But, 
though  he  longed  for  a  favorable  opportunity  of  putting 
forth  all  his  powers  for  the  benefit  of  his  fellow-men  and 
the  glory  of  his  Lord,  this  interval  of  unrecognition  neither 
soured  him  at  those  who  were  already  prominent  in  the 
Church,  nor  disposed  him  to  remit,  in  the  least  degree,  the 
exertions  which  he  was  making  to  fill  the  sphere  in  which 
he  was  at  the  moment  placed.  As  the  servant  of  Christ,  he 
was  equally  ready  to  w^ait  on  his  will,  and  to  work  at  his 
bidding ;  and  he  was  wise  enough  to  understand  that  only 
by  doing  the  little  that  was  nov/  required  of  him  could  he 
clear  the  way  for  the  accomplishment  of  those  great  things 
which  the  Lord  had  declared  were  yet  to  be  achieved  by 
him  through  suffering.  By  showing  himself  faithful  in  that 
which  was  least,  at  Tarsus,  he  rose  to  the  opportunity  of 
manifesting  equal  fidelity  in  the  greater  centres  of  Antioch, 
Ephesus,  and  Rome. 

Nor  had  he  long  to  wait ;  for  if  the  chronology  of  Dr. 
Howson  be   correct,  about  five  years. after  his  departure 


70  Paul  the  Missionary. 

from  Jerusalem,  and  in  the  year  a.d.  44,  his  friend  Barnabas 
came  to  Tarsus  with  news  which  must  have  stirred  his  soul 
to  its  depths,  and  with  a  request  which  must  have  roused 
the  noblest  enthusiasm  of  his  nature.  He  told  Paul  how, 
in  a  singular  way,  Peter — the  most  unlikely  among  the 
twelve  to  have  done  anything  of  the  kind — had  preached 
to  the  Gentile  Cornelius  and  his  friends,  and  had  received 
them  on  the  same  footing  as  Jews  into  the  company  of  the 
disciples.  He  described  the  dissatisfaction  which  had  been 
created  at  Jerusalem  by  that  act,  and  recounted  the  expla- 
nation of  his  procedure  which  Peter  made,  and  which  so  si- 
lenced the  prejudices  even  of  the  most  exclusive  that  they 
had  all  "  glorified  God,  saying.  Then  hath  God  also  to  the 
Gentiles  granted  repentance  unto  life."  He  informed  him, 
also,  of  the  movements  of  certain  disciples,  who,  fleeing  from 
Jerusalem  on  account  of  the  persecution,  had  gone  to  Phe- 
nice  and  Cyprus  and  Antioch,  and  had  preached  the  Gospel 
at  first  only  to  Jews,  but  at  length,  either  led  on  by  the  di- 
rection of  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  encouraged  by  hearing  of 
what  Peter  had  done,  had  preached  also  to  the  Gentiles 
with  such  evident  divine  endorsement  that  "  a  great  number 
believed  and  turned  to  the  Lord."  He  further  explained, 
that  when  the  brethren  at  Jerusalem  had  heard  of  these 
things,  they  had  held  a  conference  at  which  he  had  been 
appointed  to  go  to  Antioch  and  examine  the  movement,  and 
report  upon  it ;  that  he  had  fulfilled  this  mission,  and  had 
been  gladdened  by  everything  which  he  had  seen  and  heard ; 
that  he  meant  to  return  to  Antioch  himself,  and  assist  in 
carrying  forward  the  good  work  which  had  been  so  singu- 
larly begun ;  and  that  he  very  earnestly  desired  that  Paul 
should  go  with  him  and  join  him  in  the  enterprise. 

This  was  just  the  sort  of  opportunity  for  which  Paul  had 
been  waiting ;  and  its  attraction  for  him  would  be  increased 
by  the  fact  that  it  came  to  him  through  Barnabas.     With- 


A  Year  at  Antioch.  71 

out  any  assumed  reluctance,  therefore,  but  in  honest,  manly, 
hopeful  joy,  Paul  once  more  bade  adieu  to  Tarsus,  and  went 
with  his  true  yoke -fellow  to  begin  that  missionary  work 
among  the  Gentiles,  in  the  prosecution  of  which  the  Church 
emerged  from  its  cradle,  and  walked  forth,  divested  of  the 
swaddling-bands  of  Judaism,  to  benefit  the  world  at  large. 

The  city  to  which  Paul  now  went  was  admirably  adapted 
for  becoming  the  second  centre  of  the  Christian  Church. 
Situated  on  the  river  Orontes,  somewhat  less  than  twenty 
miles  by  land,  but  more  than  forty  by  water,  from  its  junc- 
tion with  the  Mediterranean,  it  stood  almost  in  the  angle 
which  the  coast  of  Syria  running  northward  makes  with  that 
of  Asia  Minor  running  eastward,  having  behind  it  the  valley 
between  the  ranges  of  Taurus  and  Lebanon,  through  which 
alone,  for  many  leagues,  the  trade  of  the  interior  could  find 
its  way  to  the  coast.  It  was  thus  excellently  placed  for 
commercial  communication  between  the  East  and  the  West. 
It  was  founded  by  Seleucus  Nicator,  who  named  it  after  his 
father  Antiochus ;  and  it  was  greatly  enlarged  by  Antiochus 
Epiphanes,  who  surrounded  it  with  a  w^all,  and  beautified  it 
with  a  magnificent  street,  which  was  four  miles  in  length 
and  adorned  by  double  colonnades.  When,  about  B.C.  65, 
it  fell  before  the  Roman  general,  Pompey,  it  was  made  a 
free  city,  and  permitted  to  be  governed  by  its  own  laws  and 
garrisoned  by  its  own  troops.  Under  the  Empire,  the  suc- 
cessive wearers  of  the  purple  seem  to  have  vied  with  each 
other  in  contributing  to  its  embellishment.  Augustus, 
through  his  minister,  Agrippa,  added  a  suburb  ;  Tiberius  re- 
stored the  walls ;  and  even  the  brutal  Caligula  sought  the 
favor  of  its  citizens  by  constructing  an  aqueduct  and  baths. 

Its  population  included  many  heterogeneous  elements. 
The  upper  classes,  as  we  might  call  them,  were  mainly 
Greeks,  either  by  birth  or  by  descent,  and  used  that  lan- 
guage which  Plato  has  immortalized  by  his  philosophy,  and 

4 


72  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Demosthenes  by  his  eloquence.  The  imperial  officials  were 
Romans,  and  spoke  in  the  Latin  tongue ;  and  the  masses, 
as  they  would  now  be  styled,  were  Syrians.  But  mingling 
among  these,yet  preserving  religiously  their  distinction  from 
them,  were  many  Jews  who  had  been  attracted  to  Antioch, 
not  only  by  its  facilities  for  commerce,  but  also  by  the  fact 
that  its  laws  placed  them  on  an  equality  with  other  citizens. 
Hither  they  brought  their  sacred  books,  and  as  these  were 
now  accessible  to  Gentiles  in  the  Septuagint  version,  we 
may  conjecture  that  some  of  the  more  thoughtful  heathens, 
disgusted  by  the  worn-out  idolatries  of  their  own  people, 
followed  the  example  of  "  Nicolas,  the  proselyte  of  Anti- 
och,"* and  adopted  the  pure  monotheism  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. Added  to  these  permanent  residents  of  the  city 
were  casual  travellers,  of  whom  some  were  always  to  be 
found  in  its  streets.  Here  the  merchants  from  the  far  East 
met  their  customers  from  the  West,  and  exchanged  com- 
modities with  each  other.  "  He  who  sits  in  our  market- 
place," says  a  writer  of  the  fourth  century,  "may  study  the 
customs  of  all  cities  in  the  w^orld ;"  and  such  was  its  impor- 
tance as  a  centre  of  influence,  that,  though  in  point  of  pop- 
ulation only  the  third  city  in  the  Empire,  it  was  frequent- 
ly referred  to  as  a  second  Rome.  In  the  days  of  Cicero 
it  was  renowned  for  the  culture  of  its  inhabitants,  among 
whom  were  some  men  of  genius  and  learning.  But  though 
thus  eminent  for  architecture,  and  literature,  and  commerce, 
it  was,  like  all  the  cities  of  pagan  civilization,  equally  noto- 
rious for  the  luxury  and  lasciviousness  of  its  people.  In  its 
immediate  neighborhood  was  Daphne,  with  its  grove  and 
temple  dedicated  to  Apollo  and  Artemis,  which  have  been 
so  eloquently  described  by  Gibbon,!  and  in  which  the 
grossest  and  most  debasing  sin  was  committed  under  the 

*  Acts  vi.,  5.  t  "  Decline  and  Fall,"  chap,  xxiii. 


litiii"'**"'' 


ii      1!    I  > 


illlilliii^ 


illiiilfSi'ii 


iliiliii 


I    Hi 


iiy  iL  ,  §dim^^^mj'\.JMi'  iMi.^:ii 


A  Year  at  Antioch.  73 

guise  of  worship.  In  the  adjacent  fields,  the  races  and 
other  games  to  which  the  Greeks  were  so  devoted,  were  cel- 
ebrated, at  first  irregularly,  but  latterly  at  stated  intervals, 
with  a  magnificence  unsurpassed  on  the  plain  of  Olympia 
itself.  These  occasions  drew  immense  crowds  to  the  city, 
and  were  frequently  marked  by  the  most  revolting  revelry. 
Indeed,  we  may  affirm  that  everything  which  could  be  done 
to  gild  the  native  hideousness  of  vice,  and  minister  to  the 
seductiveness  of  pleasure,  was  done  at  Antioch.  A  revenue 
of  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  derived  from  the 
legacy  of  a  wealthy  Roman,  was  annually  expended  on  the 
public  sports.  Rewards  were  offered  by  opulent  citizens  to 
the  man  who  should  import  or  invent  a  new  luxury,  and 
the  panders  to  pleasure  of  every  kind  flocked  thither  inces- 
santly.* 

Into  this  city,  then,  with  its  stir,  and  commerce,  and  lux- 
ury, and  idolatry,  and  vice,  these  few  disciples,  driven  from 
Jerusalem  by  persecution,  carried  the  Gospel  of  Christ ;  and 
the  first  effects  of  their  labors  as  seen  by  Barnabas,  were  so 
marked,  not  only  for  their  endorsement  of  that  which  was 
behind,  but  also  for  the  prophecy  of  that  which  was  before, 
that  he  went  to  Tarsus  and  brought  Paul  back  with  him 
to  assist  in  the  enterprise  to  which  they  had  both  alike 
consecrated  their  lives.  And  yet,  even  with  Paul  as  one  of 
the  laborers,  how  quixotic  does  that  enterprise  appear !  It 
was,  to  merely  human  view,  as  if  a  few  poor  Chinamen  should 
come  to-day  into  the  midst  of  this  city,  with  its  conglomerate 
of  nationalities  and  its  great  dark  spots  of  immorality  and 
intemperance,  for  the  purpose  of  converting  us  all  to  the  re- 
ligion of  Confucius.     But  One  unseen  went  with  Barnabas 


*  See  for  the  materials  from  which  this  paragraph  has  been  construct- 
ed, Gibbon,  ubi  supra  ;  Plumptre,  "  St.  Paul  in  Asia  Minor,"  pp.  35-44 ; 
Lewin,  vol.  i.,  pp.  91, 96  ;  Howson,  vol.  i.,  pp.  131-136. 


74  Paul  the  Missionary. 

and  Paul ;  for  He  who  spoke  the  parable  of  the  mustard- 
seed  was  by  their  side,  and  the  grain  which  they  planted 
soon  sprung  up  into  a  glorious  tree. 

The  immediate  success  which  they  were  permitted  to  see 
was  great ;  but,  after  the  description  which  has  just  been 
given  of  the  Antioch  to  which  Paul  originally  went,  it  may 
help  you  to  understand  the  sort  of  revolution  which  the 
Gospel  produced,  if  I  put  you  down  for  a  moment  or  two  in 
the  middle  of  the  fourth  century,  and  ask  you  to  look  at  a 
scene  which  was  witnessed  in  its  neighborhood  about  the 
year  a.d.  360.  Even  within  the  limits  of  the  apostolic  age, 
Antioch  was  one  of  the  strongholds  of  the  Christian  Church ; 
from  it,  too,  shortly  after  the  beginning  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, the  martyr  Ignatius  was  taken  to  Rome  by  the  orders 
of  the  Emperor  Trajan,  and  there  devoured  by  wild  beasts ; 
but  in  the  time  of  Julian  so  completely  had  the  tide  been 
turned,  that  when  the  apostate  emperor  went  to  Antioch  on 
occasion  of  the  annual  heathen  festival,  and  made  every  ef- 
fort to  restore  the  ancient  glory  of  the  former  idolatry,  no  of- 
fering was  presented  along  with  his  own,  on  the  altar  of  the 
Daphnian  Apollo,  save  "  a  single  goose,  provided  at  the  ex- 
pense of  a  priest,  the  pale  and  solitary  inhabitant  of  the  de- 
cayed temple."*  Such  a  contrast  is  most  striking  in  itself  ; 
but  it  becomes  more  suggestive  when  we  remember  that  the 
change  had  been  effected  by  no  enginery  of  war,  but  by  an 
influence  as  quiet  as  that  by  which  the  iceberg,  when  float- 
ed down  from  the  polar  regions  into  warmer  latitudes,  falls 
asunder  and  disappears.  For  the  greater  portion  of  the 
interval  between  the  days  of  Paul  and  those  of  Julian,  the 
Christians  had  been  the  objects  of  the  bitterest  persecution ; 
and  yet  Christianity,  by  the  force  of  the  truth  and  love  of 
which  it  is  the  embodiment,  had  conquered  idolatry  even 


A  Year  at  Antioch. 


75 


in  its  strongest  seats.  A  fact  like  that  may  well  cheer  us 
amid  discouragements,  and  give  us  patient  faith  while  we 
plod  on  at  our  unceasing  work. 

Paul's  first  sojourn  in  Antioch  lasted  "  a  v/hole  year ;" 
during  which  we  are  told  that  he  and  Barnabas  "  assembled 
themselves  with  the  church,  and  taught  much  people."  We 
have  no  record  of  the  discourses  which  they  delivered  ;  no 
description  of  the  plans  which  they  followed ;  no  enumera- 
tion of  the  converts  whom  they  made.  But  a  most  interest- 
ing indication  of  the  central  theme  of  their  teachings,  as 
well  as  a  most  remarkable  illustration  of  the  stir  they  made, 
is  incidentally  given  us  by  the  historian  in  the  simple  state- 
ment :  "And  the  disciples  were  called  Christians  first  in  An- 
tioch j"  for  I  cannot  but  conclude  that  this  name  was  coined 
and  given  to  them  by  their  heathen  neighbors.  Evidently 
they. did  not  choose  it  for  themselves  ;  since,  whenever  they 
had  occasion  to  refer  to  one  another,  they  used  such  words 
as  "  brethren,"  "  saints,"  "  believers,"  "  disciples,"  or  such 
a  phrase  as  "  those  of  that  way,"  and  the  like  ;  but  we  never 
find  them  calling  each  other  Christians.  Indeed,  this  term 
is  employed  in  only  two  other  places  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  in  both  of  these  it  so  occurs  as  to  suggest  that  its  com- 
mon use  originally  was  by  heathens  when  they  had  occasion 
to  refer  to  the  disciples  of  Jesus.  Thus  Agrippa  said  unto 
Paul,  "  Almost  thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian  ;''*  and 
Peter  says, "  if  any  man  suffer  as  a  Christian,"  that  is,  suffer 
being  styled  a  Christian.  If,  therefore,  the  usage  of  evan- 
gelists and  apostles  is  any  guide  to  us  on  such  a  subject,  we 
may  certainly  infer  from  that,  in  this  case,  that  this  name 
did  not  originate  with  the  disciples  themselves. 

Neither  is  it  likely  that  it  was  given  them  by  the  Jews  ; 
for  the  word  Christ  is  the  Greek  equivalent  for  the  Hebrew 

*  Acts  xxvi.,  28;  I  Peter  iv.,  16. 


76  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Messiah  ;  and  therefore,  if  they  had  called  the  "brethren" 
by  this  name,  they  would  have  been  nominally,  at  least,  ad-, 
mitting  that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah  —  a  thing  which  they 
were  not  likely  to  do. 

Further,  there  is  no  evidence  that  this  designation  was 
given  to  the  disciples  by  direction  of  God ;  for  though  the 
Greek  word  here  translated  "  were  called  "  is  frequently 
used  to  describe  the  giving  of  a  divine  communication,  it 
is  in  these  cases  invariably  connected  with  such  phrases  as 
these  :  "of  God,"  "of  the  angel,"  "  in  a  dream,"  etc.  Now, 
in  the  narrative  before  us,  there  is  no  hint  of  any  such  su- 
pernatural message,  and  therefore  we  are  not  warranted  in 
believing  that  the  name  "Christian"  is  of  divine  origin. 

There  remains,  therefore,  only  one  other  hypothesis, 
namely,  that  it  was  given  to  the  disciples  by  the  heathen, 
and  much  may  be  advanced  in  favor  of  that  view  of  the  case. 
The  reception  of  Gentiles  into  the  Church,  without  their  be- 
ing first  required  to  become  proselytes  to  the  Jewish  faith, 
would  convince  on- lookers  that  the  religion  which  Paul 
preached  was  not  a  part  of  Judaism,  and  thus  it  would  be- 
come necessary  to  adopt  a  name  for  its  disciples  which 
would  not  confound  them  with  Jews.  To  this  considera- 
tion let  it  be  added  that,  according  to  some  ancient  authors, 
the  inhabitants  of  Antioch  were  proverbial  for  inventing 
nicknames ;  and  that  the  Greek  termination  of  this  particu- 
lar word  indicates  that  it  came  from  those  to  whom  that  lan- 
guage was  vernacular ;  and  then  it  will  be  felt  that  we  may 
safely  trace  the  origin  of  the  term  Christian  to  the  heathen 
population  of  this  important  city. 

Now,  if  this  opinion  be  accepted,  the  coinage  and  curren- 
cy of  this  new  name  is  a  proof,  all  the  more  powerful  be- 
cause it  is  incidental,  of  the  prominence  into  which  already 
the  preachers  of  the  new  faith  had  come.  Be  it  remember- 
ed that  in  those  days  there  were  no  newspapers  to  chronicle 


A  Year  at  Antioch.  77 

their  movements  or  give  publicity  to  their  teachings.  They 
had  to  be  content  with  meeting-places  in  obscure  localities; 
they  had  few  opportunities  of  coming  into  contact  with  the 
people  save  on  the  streets,  in  the  market-place,  or  in  private 
houses  ;  yet  in  the  face  of  all  these  difficulties  they  made 
such  progress  as  to  force  themselves  on  the  attention  of 
the  community,  and  draw  upon  themselves  the  derision  for 
which  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  were  proverbial. 

And  the  name  itself  was  one  which  speaks  volumes  for 
the.  kind  of  instruction  which  Paul  and  his  companions  gave. 
The  heathen  did  not  call  the  disciples  after  Paul  or  Barna- 
bas, but  after  Christ.  Why  ?  Because  these  early  disciples 
made  so  much  of  Christ.  To  him  they  sung  their  hymns 
as  to  their  God.  His  example  was  their  pattern.  His  word 
was  their  law.  His  atonement  was  their  trust.  His  cross 
was  their  glory.  He  was  the  centre  round  which  all  else 
for  them  revolved.  He  was  the  judge  to  whose  final  assize 
they  made  their  appeal,  and  the  advocate  to  whom  they 
intrusted  all  their  causes.  He  was  the  source  of  their  hope, 
the  fountain  of  their  strength,  and  the  Lord  of  their  lives. 
In  a  word,  he  was  to  them  the  Gospel  ;  and  if  any  one  had 
asked  them  where  they  were  to  go  to  learn  its  doctrines, 
they  would  have  replied  substantially  as  Henry  Martyn  did, 
when  a  Persian  Sufi  put  the  same  question  to  him, "  You 
will  find  them  all  in  Christ  himself."  The  fact  of  incar- 
nation they  saw  in  his  person;  the  doctrine  of  atonement 
they  learned  at  his  cross  ;  and  as  they  repeated  week  by 
week  the  story  of  his  resurrection,  they  felt  that  by  him  "life 
and  immortality  were  brought  to  light."  Thus  it  was  not 
wonderful  that  men  styled  them  Christians ;  for,  as  one  has 
quaintly  said,  "  Because  they  so  often  called  upon  his  name, 
his  name  at  length  was  called  on  them."  Brethren,  what  is 
Christ  to  us  ?  Let  us  face  that  question  honestly,  and  an- 
swer it  truly.     Then  shall  we  discover  whether  or  not  we 


78  Paul  the  Missionary. 

are  the  faithful  representatives  of  those  who  were  first  des- 
ignated after  him.  This  will  test  us  as  the  acid  tests  the 
gold ;  and  if  in  the  discourses  of  the  pulpit  Christ  is  not 
exalted,  or  in  the  lives  of  the  hearers  Christ  is  not  seen  to 
be  honored,  then,  no  matter  what  we  may  call  ourselves,  we 
are  destitute  of  that  which  first  attracted  attention  to  be- 
lievers, and  secured  for  them  this  distinctive  appellation. 

At  the  end  of  this  year  of  happy  labor  in  Antioch,  the 
Church  in  that  city  was  visited  by  certain  prophets  from 
Jerusalem.  These  were  men  who,  by  the  laying  on  of  the 
apostles'  hands,  had  received  a  gift  by  which  they  were  en- 
abled to  speak  to  others  on  behalf  of  God,  either  in  the  way 
of  foretelling  future  events,  or  of  addressing  to  them  need- 
ful exhortation.  One  of  them,  named  Agabas,gave  warning 
of  a  famine  which  was  soon  to  spread  desolation  over  the 
world ;  and,  believing  his  words,  the  disciples  made  a  con- 
tribution for  the  brethren  in  Jerusalem,  who  seemed  some- 
how always  to  be  the  first  to  feel  the  pressure  of  such  sea- 
sons of  scarcity,  and  the  last  to  reap  the  benefits  which 
sprung  out  of  commercial  revival.  With  these  gifts  the 
Christians  of  Antioch  sent  Barnabas  and  Paul  to  Jerusalem, 
not  only  to  insure  their  faithful  presentation, but  also  to  add 
to  them  the  warmer  greeting  of  sympathy  and  love. 

Luke  tells  us  that  this  famine  "  came  to  pass  in  the  days 
of  Claudius  Caesar."  Now,  history  mentions  three  famines 
as  having  existed  during  the  reign  of  that  emperor,  one  con- 
nected more  immediately  with  Greece,  another  with  Rome, 
and  still  another  with  Judsa  and  its  neighborhood.  Jo- 
sephus  mentions  the  last,  and  gives  special  praise  to  Hel- 
ena, the  Queen  of  Adiabene,  for  the  liberality  which  she 
showed  on  the  occasion.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  there 
was,  in  the  prediction  of  Agabas,  a  primary  reference  to 
that  time  of  scarcity ;  yet,  as  he  speaks  of  it  as  extending 
"  throughout  all  the  world,"  it  would  be  an  unusual  restric- 


A  Year  at  Antioch.  79 

tion  of  these  universal  terms  to  confine  their  meaning  to 
Palestine.  This  consideration  has  led  some  eminent  inter- 
preters to  regard  his  prophecy  here  as  supplemental  to  that 
of  our  Lord  himself,  in  which  he  named  "famines*  in  divers 
places  "  as  among  the  indications  of  the  approach  of  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem.  Agabas  may  have  been  speaking 
of  the  beginning  of  those  calamities  which,  coming  in  many 
forms  and  lasting  for  many  years,  culminated  in  the  down- 
fall of  the  Holy  City.  Thus  we  can  account  both  for  the 
wide  sweep  of  the  terms  which  he  employs,  and  for  the  par- 
ticular application  made  of  them  by  his  hearers  to  the  case 
of  their  brethren  in  Jerusalem.! 

When  Barnabas  and  Paul  reached  Jerusalem  at  this  tirne, 
they  found  the  Church  there  heaving  with  the  after-swell  of 
that  excitement  which  had  been  produced  by  the  martyrdom 
of  James  by  Herod,  and  the  imprisonment  and  escape  of 
Peter.  Doubtless  they  were  warmly  welcomed  by  the  breth- 
ren. Doubtless,  also,  the  report  of  their  labors  was  received 
with  delight,  and  the  offering  of  their  benevolence  with  grat- 
itude. But,  in  the  circumstances,  it  might  not  be  deemed 
safe  for  them  to  stay  long  in  the  Jewish  capital,  while  the 
interesting  state  of  matters  in  Antioch  would  tend  to  make 
them  impatient  to  return  to  their  labors  there.  Thus  we 
account  for  the  facts  that  no  references  to  this  visit  to  Je- 
rusalem are  made  by  Paul  in  any  of  his  letters,  and  that  it 
is  passed  over  with  so  slight  a  record  by  the  historian  of 
The  Acts. 

After  they  went  back  to  Antioch,  a  distinct  step  in  ad- 
vance was  taken  by  the  Church  there.  Among  its  members 
who  had  been  endowed  with  supernatural  gifts  of  prophecy 
and  teaching  v/ere  Simeon,"also  called  Niger,  or  the  black ; 

*  Matt,  xxiv.,  7. 

t  See  Fairbairn's  "  Imperial  Bible  Dictionary,"  art.  Agabas. 
A* 


8o  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Lucius,  a  native  of  Cyrene — that  African  city  from  which 
had  come  the  Simeon  who  had  borne  the  cross  of  Christ — 
and  Manaen,  the  foster-brother  of  that  Herod  who  had  been 
tetrarch  of  Galilee  when  the  Lord  was  crucified.  As  these 
men,  with  Barnabas  and  Paul,  and  the  brethren  of  the 
Church,  were  engaged  in  the  service  of  the  Lord,  with  fast- 
ing and  prayer,  a  special  command  was  received  from  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  this  effect :  "  Separate  me  Barnabas  and 
Paul  for  the  work  whereunto  I  have  called  them."  In  obe- 
dience to  this  injunction,  "  they  laid  their  hands  on  Barna- 
bas and  Paul,  and  sent  them  away." 

Now,  let  us  distinctly  understand  what  this  laying  on  of 
hands  implied.  It  was  not  an  impartation  to  them  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  for  both  of  them  had  already  received  that 
heavenly  gift ;  neither  was  it  an  ordination  to  the  apostle- 
ship,  for  these  brethren  could  not  confer  an  office  which 
they  did  not  possess  themselves ;  and  Paul  is  very  careful 
in  all  his  letters  to  let  it  be  known  that  he  had  not  received 
his  apostleship  through  any  human  agency.  Still  less  was 
it  an  ordination  of  them  to  the  common  ministry  of  the 
Word,  for  they  had  both  been  exercising  that  ministry  for 
a  considerable  time ;  but  it  was  a  formal  designation  of 
them  to  that  which  we  now  commonly  denominate  the  mis- 
sionary ENTERPRISE.  They  were  set  apart  by  the  brethren 
to  the  work  of  carrying  the  Gospel  to  other  cities  and  to 
other  lands  ;  and  the  significance  of  the  service  was  two- 
fold. On  the  one  hand,  by  accepting  this  commission,  the 
brethren  virtually  placed  themselves  in  the  position  of  rep- 
resentatives of  the  Church  ;  and  on  the  other,  by  consenting 
to  give  this  commission,  the  members  of  the  Church  in  ef- 
fect pledged  themselves  to  sustain  and  encourage  the  mis- 
sionaries in  the  arduous  work  on  which  they  sent  them 
forth.  Hence  this  was  not  an  ordination  in  the  ecclesias- 
tical sense  of  the  word,  but  rather  a  special  appointment  of 


A  Year  at  Antioch.  8i 

these  two  noble  men  to  a  work  on  v/hich  they  were  to  enter, 
not  as  a  private  and  personal  venture  of  their  own,  but  as 
the  accredited  messengers  of  the  Church. 

They  did  not  linger  long  on  the  threshold  of  their  new 
undertaking,  but  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  interesting- 
service  at  which  they  were  set  apart,  Paul  and  Barnabas,  ac- 
companied by  John  Mark,  set  out  on  that  expedition  which 
is  usually  described  as  the  first  missionary  journey  of 
our  apostle. 

Here,  therefore,  we  shall  meanwhile  leave  them,  while  we 
pause  to  glean  a  few  ears  of  practical  suggestion  from  this 
most  interesting  field. 

Let  us  notice,  then,  in  the  first  place,  how  earnest  Chris- 
tian living  attracts  the  attention  and  compels  the  admira- 
tion of  those  who  are  still  outside  of  the  Church.  At  first, 
as  I  have  supposed,  the  name  "  Christian  "  was  given  to  the 
followers  of  the  Lord  in  derision,  much  as  the  modern  ap- 
pellations, Lollard,  Puritan,  Methodist,  and  the  like,  have 
been  thrown  at  men  of  earnest  spiritual  convictions  in  the 
history  of  English  Protestantism.  It  said  much  for  the  ag- 
gressive character  of  their  religion  and  the  activity  of  their 
exertions,  that  a  nickname  of  any  sort  was  thought  neces- 
sary for  them.  But  see  how,  by  their  conduct  in  succeeding 
years,  they  redeemed  it  from  ridicule,  and  earned  for  it  the 
respect  even  of  their  enemies.  I  presume  not,  indeed,  to  say 
that  all  who  then  bore  this  title  were  worthy  of  commenda- 
tion ;  but  simple  justice  will  compel  the  investigator  to  de- 
clare that  the  great  majority  of  them  were  distinguished  for 
their  truthfulness,  integrity,  and  benevolence  toward  man,  no 
less  than  for  their  devotion  to  Christ.  They  were  not  worse 
in  the  ordinary  relationships  of  life  because  they  were  follow- 
ers of  Jesus  ;  but  contrariwise,  their  love  to  him  made  them 
better  husbands  and  wives,  better  sons  and  daughters,  bet- 
ter brothers  and  sisters,  better  neighbors  and  friends,  better 


82  Paul  the  Missionary. 

citizens  and  servants,  than  those  around  them.  And  in  the 
times  when  persecution  raged  most  fiercely  against  them, 
even  a  Roman  governor*  had  to  confess  that  he  could  find 
none  occasion  against  them,  except  it  were  in  the  matter  of 
"their  God ;  while  by  the  manner  in  which  they  met  death — 
calling  upon  Jesus  and,  Stephen-like,  praying  for  those  who 
had  condemned  them  to  execution — they  did  much  to  ex- 
tort from  the  spectators  the  admission  that  "  the  Christian 
is  the  highest  style  of  man."  In  modern  days,  alas,  we  who 
profess  to  belong  to  Christ  are  very  far  from'  resembling 
him  as  thoroughly  as  we  ought  to  do ;  yet  we  may  not  forget 
that  the  noblest  epithet  in  our  language,  conferring  as  it 
does  the  highest  honor,  and  securing  the  fullest  confidence, 
is  this  of  Christian. 

How  much  better  thus  has  it  fared  with  this  name,  derived 
by  outsiders  from  the  word  Christ,  than  with  that  of  Jesuit, 
by  which  others  have  called  themselves  from  the  word  Jesus. 
If  you  wish  to  stigmatize  a  man  as  cunning,  deceitful,  and 
untrustworthy,  you  call  him  Jesuitical.  Why  ?  Because  the 
members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  since  almost  the  very  time 
of  its  origin,  have  had  the  reputation  of  possessing  these 
despicable  features.  Devoted  heart  and  soul  to  the  designs 
of  their  order,  and  believing  thoroughly  that  the  end  sancti- 
fies the  means,  they  have  deemed  no  disguise  too  degrading 
and  no  falsehood  too  great  to  be  used  by  them  in  the  at- 
tainment of  their  ends.  Worming  themselves  into  the  se- 
crets of  families  and  the  councils  of  cabinets,  wearing  the 
mask  of  servants  while  they  were  doing  the  work  of  spies, 
feigning  the  meekest  humility  while  they  Vv-ere  pushing  on 
the  proudest  and  most  pernicious  schemes — they  have  been 
hated  even  in  Roman  Catholic  countries,  and  have  made 


*  See  the  letter  of  the  Younger  Pliny  to  the  Emperor  Trajan,  as  given 
in  *'  Pliny's  Letters"  in  the  series  of  ancient  classics,  pp.  152-154. 


PAUL  S    FIRST    MISSIONARY    ROUTE. 


A  Year  at  Antioch.  S^ 

their  name  an  offence  to  all  lovers  of  truth  and  liberty  and 
law.* 

Thus  the  designation  by  which  they  chose  to  call  them- 
selves, and  which  they  derived  from  Jesus,  meaning  it  to  be 
a  symbol  of  the  highest  honor,  has  come  to  be  hated'and 
abhorred ;  while  that  by  which  the  early  disciples  were  styled 
by  on-lookers,  who  derived  it  from  Christ,  has  come  to  be 
regarded  as  the  worthiest  which  a  man  can  bear.  Surely 
this  contrast  is  not  without  its  suggestive  lesson.  In  each 
case  the  character  of  the  wearers  of  the  name  has  given  to 
it  its  popular  reputation ;  and  if  we  would  not  have  the  title 
Christian  become  a  reproach  as  great  as  it  is  now  an  honor, 
we  who  bear  it  must  maintain  a  conversation  worthy  of  the 
Gospel  of  the  Lord.  The  first  believers  received  it  from 
others ;  we,  however,  have  chosen  it  for  ourselves,  and  it 
becomes  us  either  to  conduct  ourselves  in  a  manner  worthy 
of  the  reputation  which  now  it  bears,  or  to  renounce  it  al- 
together. Let  us  justify  our  appropriation  of  it  by  a  piety 
as  pure,  an  activity  as  aggressive,  and  a  devotion  to  Christ 
as  marked,  as  those  by  which  Paul  and  his  associates  w^ere 
distinguished.  Like  them,  let  us  enthrone  Christ  in  our 
hearts,  and  serve  him  in  our  lives.  Like  them,  let  us  keep 
ourselves  unspotted  from  the  world,  and  cultivate  the  graces 
of  meekness,  truth,  and  righteousness.  Like  them,  let  us  be 
filled  with  love  to  our  fellow-men,  and  seek  by  every  means 
to  save  them  from  destruction.  Like  them,  let  us  be  "  not 
slothful  in  business,  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord." 
Then  this  ancient  and  "worthy  name"  by  which  we  are 
called  Vv^ill  acquire  new  honor  from  our  conduct,  and  they 
who  come  after  us  will  be  stimulated  by  our  example  to 
carry  it  to  still  higher  renown.     Let  us  never  forget  that 

*  See  this  contrast  more  fully  stated  in  "  Paul  the  Preacher,"  by  John 
Eadie,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  pp.  47-49. 


84  Paul  the  Missionary. 

this  appellation  must  be  to  us  who  bear  it  either  our  high- 
est honor  or  our  deepest  disgrace.  Our  highest  honor,  if 
we  are  all  that  it  really  imports,  but  our  deepest  disgrace  if 
we  are  not  possessed  of  the  character  which  it  so  vividly 
suggests. 

Finally,  we  may  see  here  how  the  foreign  missionary  en- 
terprise was  born.  When  Jesus  left  the  earth,  he  said  to 
his  disciples,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gos- 
pel to  every  creature ;"  but  they  were  somewhat  slow  to  act 
upon  his  words.  They  were  very  earnest  in  Jerusalem  and 
Judaea ;  but  they  organized  no  effort  in  the  Jewish  metrop- 
olis for  the  purpose  of  sending  the  Gospel  to  other  lands. 
This  was  owing  in  some  degree  to  the  exigencies  of  their 
position,  but  more  perhaps  to  the  influence  of  their  national 
exclusiveness.  The  ritual  of  Moses,  while  not  preventing 
men  of  other  races  from  becoming  proselytes,  did  nothing 
to  invite  them ;  but  rather  built  a  wall  around  the  chosen 
people,  which  served  to  isolate  them  even  in  the  days  of 
their  dispersion  from  those  among  whom  they  were  scat- 
tered. Now,  the  first  disciples  carried  with  them  into  the 
Christian  Church  much  of  that  spirit  of  separatism,  and 
carefully  guarded  every  avenue  through  which  Gentiles 
might  come  into  their  fellowship.  This  is  apparent  from 
their  procedure  in  regard  to  the  preaching  of  Philip  in  Sa- 
maria, of  Peter  to  Cornelius,  and  of  the  first  evangelists  in 
Antioch.  To  use  a  modern  term,  the  Jerusalem  Church 
was  intensely  "  conservative ;"  and  had  its  members  been 
left  to  themselves,  it  does  not  appear  that  they  would  have 
taken  any  steps  to  send  the  Gospel  into  foreign  parts. 
Hence  that  city  never  could  have  become  the  centre  of  a 
world-embracing  Church.  But  so  soon  as  Gentiles  came 
into  the  ranks  of  the  disciples  without  needing  first  to  be- 
come Jewish  proselytes,  they  took  up,  under  the  guidance  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  the  case  of  the  outlying  heathen.     They 


A  Year  at  Antioch.  85 

knew  the  degradation  of  the  old  idolatries,  and  the  hollow- 
ness  of  the  worn-out  religions  of  the  nations  •  for  they  had 
themselves  come  out  of  them.  Therefore  they  were  anxious 
for  the  salvation  of  their  fellow-Gentiles,  and  were  prepared 
to  give  prompt  obedience  to  the  command  of  the  Holy 
Ghost;  and  I  am  confident  that  no  day  of  more  sacred  joy 
had  as  yet  dawned  upon  the  Church  of  Antioch  than  that  on 
which  Barnabas  and  Paul  were  sent  out  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel in  the  cities  of  Cyprus.  Here,  then,  was  something  new 
under  the  sun.  Nothing  like  this  had  ever  been  done  by  the 
Jews.  Throughout  the  many  centuries  of  their  history — if 
we  except  the  typical  and  prophetic  missions  of  Elisha  and 
Jonah — no  one  had  ever  left  their  borders  to  turn  the  Gen- 
tiles to  the  faith  of  Jehovah.  Nothing  like  this  had  ever 
been  seen  among  the  Greek  and  Roman  heathens  them- 
selves. Never  had  one  nation  among  them  concerned  itself 
— from  anything  more  than  curiosity  —  with  the  spiritual 
condition  of  another.  Not  till  this  vessel  left  the  harbor 
of  Seleucia,  had  there  been  any  organized  effort  by  any  men 
for  the  purpose  of  conferring  a  new  and  beneficent  religion 
upon  those  of  another  race  than  their  own.  And  when 
these  brethren  did  go  forth,  they  went  not  with  earthly  weap- 
ons, or  protected  by  the  edict  of  emperor  or  governor,  but 
carrying  only  the  truth,  and  eager  only  to  tell  the  wondrous 
story  of  redeeming  love.  It  was  an  undertaking  as  heroic 
as  it  was  novel ;  and  it  was  at  once  the  fruit  of  that  grander 
mission  on  which  the  Lord  himself  had  come  from  heaven 
to  earth,  and  the  evidence  of  its  reality  and  power. 

Let  it  be  distinctly  observed,  too,  that  when  the  command 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  came  to  them,  these  Christians  of  Antioch 
did  not  say,  "  Are  there  not  heathen  enough  in  Antioch  to 
preach  to  ?  Let  us  convert  them  first,  and  then  it  will 
be  time  to  go  to  Cyprus."  They  simply  did  as  they  were 
told,  and  they  prospered  for  so  doing.     In  our  churches  of 


86  Paul  the  Missionary. 

to-day,  however,  there   are   many  who  have   the  strongest 
prejudices  against  foreign  missions,  and  who  are  constantly 
reminding  us  of  the  unconverted  at  our  own  doors.    Now,  of 
course,  I  do  not  deny — alas  !  who  can  deny  ?^the  existence 
of  heathenism  in  our  own  land,  and  I  would  be  the  last  even 
to  attempt  to  discourage  efforts  for  its  evangelization ;  but 
what  I  do  say  is  that  we  must  not  wait  until  that  is  accom- 
plished before  we  think  of  carrying  the  Gospel  abroad.     If 
that  principle  had  been  acted  upon  at  the  first,  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  any  country  but  Palestine  would  ever  have  heard  of 
Christ  and  his  salvation.     It  is  at  least  certain  that,  if  the 
Church  of  Antioch  had  followed  that  plan,  Europe  would 
not  have  been  blessed,  as  it  ultimately  was,  by  the  labors  of 
Paul.     But  the  apostle  and  his  coadjutors  were  wiser  than 
our  modern  censors,  for  they  went  from  place  to  place  drop- 
ping the  good  seed  of  the  Word,  and  leaving  it  to  germinate 
while  they  advanced  yet  farther  into  the  regions  of  idolatry 
and  superstition.      And  if  we  were   animated  by  a  right 
spirit,  we  would  follow  their  example  ;  for  the  reflex  influ- 
ence of  success  on  the  foreign  field  cannot  but  stimulate 
the  work  at  home.     If  it  be  true  that  missionary  effort  in 
heathen  lands  is  opposed  to  activity  within  our  own  bor- 
ders, then  we  might  suppose  that  before  the  revival  of  the 
foreign  enterprise,  at  or  about  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century,  there  would  be  great  enthusiasm  for  the  conversion 
of  the  masses  of  our  own  population.     Then  there  was  noth- 
ing to  divert  the  attention  from  domestic  objects,  or  to  di- 
vide the  stream  of  liberality  and  effort ;  and  so  of  course  all 
these  would  go  in  the  direction  of  home  missions.    But  what 
is  the  fact  ?     Do  we  find  such  great  interest  in  the  evangel- 
ization of  the  unconverted  in  our  streets,  as  on  this  theory 
we  have  a  right  to  look  for  ?     On  the  contrary,  there  were 
in  those  days  few  Sunday-schools,  no  city  missions,  no.  Five 
Points'  Houses  of  Industry,  no  Water  Street  Missions,  no 


A  Year  at  Antioch.  87 

Scripture  Readers'  Associations,  no  mission  churches  —  in 
a  word,  none  of  those  efforts  which  we  now  group  under 
the  phrase  "  home  evangelization."  All  these  were  the  re- 
flex results  of  the  very  foreign  enterprise  Vv-hich  is  now  so 
jealously  regarded  by  many  among  us ;  or  rather,  perhaps, 
we  ought  to  say  that  the  home  and  foreign  efforts  which 
began  some  ninety  years  ago  v/ere  the  twin-born  children 
of  a  revived  Christianity  in  the  Church.  These  two  fields 
of  labor  are  not  antagonistic.  They  are  both  to  be  culti- 
vated by  disciples  of  Jesus ;  and  the  very  life  of  a  church 
depends  on  its  earnestness  in  both.  The  missionary  enter- 
prise is  the  safety-valve  of  the  Church ;  and  if  you  shut  that 
dovm  you  may  look  out  for  an  explosion.  The  joy,  the 
peace,  and  the  purity,  whether  of  life  or  doctrine,  of  a 
church  depend  on  its  activity  for  Christ  at  home  and 
abroad,  and  more  abroad  than  at  home  ;  for,  from  the  obser- 
vation and  experience  of  a  ministry  which  has  lasted  now 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  I  say,  without  any  hes- 
itation, that  when  interest  in  foreign  missions  is  maintained 
in  a  church  to  the  normal  point,  all  other  activities  and 
agencies  at  home  will  go  of  themselves,  and  as  things  of 
course  ;  while,  if  there  be  a  lack  of  devotion  to  that  noble 
enterprise,  nothing  else  will  be  prosecuted  with  either  enthu- 
siasm or  success.  Wherefore,  brethren  beloved,  when  your 
sympathies,  efforts,  and  offerings  are  asked  for  this  great 
cause,  let  your  minds  go  back  to  the  day  when  Paul  and 
Barnabas  set  out  from  Antioch;  reckon  up,  if  you  can,  all 
that  the  world  has  owed  to  the  work  which  was  then  inau- 
gurated, and  respond  accordingly. 


( 


i 


V. 

CYPRUS. 

Acts  xiii.,  4-13. 

WHEN  the  members  of  the  Church  at  Antioch  desig- 
nated Paul  and  Barnabas  for  the  work  of  inaugurat- 
ing the  missionary  enterprise,  they  laid  of  their  very  best 
upon  the  altar  of  the  Lord.  They  sent  away  these  brethren 
not  because  they  had  not  succeeded,  or  because  they  could 
be  the  most  easily  spared,  but  rather  because  they  had  been 
so  conspicuously  wise  and  energetic  in  the  services  which 
they  had  already  rendered.  Not  without  a  consciousness 
of  sacrifice  did  they  give  them  up  ;  and  yet  they  were  at  the 
same  time  glad  of  an  opportunity  of  showing  their  love  to 
Jesus,  and  their  interest  in  their  fellow-men,  even  at  such  a 
cost  to  themselves.  But  this  cheerful  acquiescence  was  not 
all  upon  one  side.  Barnabas  and  Paul  were  as  ready  to  be 
offered  on  "  the  sacrifice  and  service  "  of  the  brethren's  faith 
as  the  brethren  were  to  offer  them.  They  gave  no  reluc- 
tant assent  to  the  call  which  was  addressed  to  them.  They 
said  nothing  of  desiring  to  stay  where  they  were.  They  ut- 
tered no  words  of  regret ;  and  as  on  another  memorable  oc- 
casion, so  on  this  it  was  true  of  our  apostle  that  "  he  confer- 
red not  with  flesh  and  blood."  When  William  Burns  was 
chosen  by  the  English  Presbyterian  Synod,  then  in  session 
at  Sunderland,  to  be  its  first  missionary  to  China,  and  was 
asked  how  soon  he  could  set  out,  he  replied,  with  prompt 


Cyprus.  89 

decision,  "  To-morrow  !"*  So  here  Barnabas  and  Paul,  hold- 
ing themselves  at  the  entire  disposal  of  the  Lord,  gave  in- 
stant obedience  to  his  command.  They  recognized  that 
they  were  called,  as  indeed  they  were,  to  higher  honor — if, 
also,  to  greater  danger — and  they  went  forth  rejoicing  that 
they  had  been  counted  worthy  to  receive  such  a  commission 
from  their  Lord. 

Now  this  was  as  it  always  ought  to  be.  When  on  the 
battle-field,  a  movement  requiring  the  highest  strategic  skill 
and  attended  with  unusual  danger,  is  to  be  made,  the  gen- 
eral selects  for  its  leader  the  most  competent  and  coura- 
geous officer  at  his  disposal,  and  he  who  is  so  chosen  reckons 
that  he  has  received  a  mark  of  distinction.  But  why  should 
it  be  otherwise  in  that  army  whose  conflicts  are  spiritual, 
and  whose  victories  are  beneficent  ?  And  if  it  be  otherwise, 
can  we  hope  for  the  highest  success  in  our  efforts  for  the 
conversion  of  the  world  .^  The  Church  will  never  rise  to 
the  true  ideal  of  aggressive  excellence  until  she  is  willing  to 
give  up  her  best  men  to  the  prosecution  of  the  work  of  mis- 
sions, and  until  they  are  willing  to  regard  a  call  to  such 
work  as  the  highest  honor  that  can  be  conferred  upon  them. 
The  "  marching  orders  "  given  in  the  Saviour's  last  com- 
mand can  never  be  a  matter  of  indifference  to  those  who  are 
his  disciples ;  and  the  field  on  which  Paul  won  his  imper- 
ishable laurels  cannot  be  beneath  the  ambition  of  the  great- 
est among  the  soldiers  of  the  cross. 

The  two  friends  took  with  them  John,  surnamed  ]\Iark, 
the  nephew  of  Barnabas,  and  the  author  of  the  second  Gos- 
pel. He  is  styled  in  the  narrative  "  their  minister ;"  but  it 
is  impossible  to  determine  with  precision  the  kind  of  ser- 
vice which  he  was  expected  to  render  them.  Some  suppose 
that  he  was  simply  a  personal  attendant,  as  Elisha  was  upon 

*  "Memoir  of  the  Rev.  William  C.  Bums,"  p.  304. 


90  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Elijah,  or  Gehazi  upon  Elisha.  Others  believe  that  he  was 
an  assistant  in  their  public  duties — such  as  preaching  and 
the  administration  of  baptism.  To  me  it  seems  probable 
that,  as  he  was,  in  some  sort,  the  precursor  of  Timothy,  the 
ministry  of  Mark  was  of  a  spiritual  rather  than  a  personal 
kind,  and  that  he  was  useful  in  bringing  people  into  con- 
tact with  his  companions  ;  in  supplementing  their  public  in- 
structions by  private  conversations  ;  and  in  helping  on  the 
organizing  of  churches  in  the  different  places  which  w^ere 
visited. 

These,  then,  were  the  first  foreign  missionaries.  They 
left  Antioch  with  no  flourish  of  trumpets,  but  with  the  calm 
earnestness  of  thoughtful  men,  who  knew  that  they  were  haz- 
arding their  lives  for  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  who 
believed  in  the  assurance  of  their  ascended  Lord :  "  Lo,  I 
am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  After 
a  journey  of  about  sixteen  miles  they  came  to  Seleucia, 
which  was  the  port  of  Antioch,  and  was  situated  on  the  coast 
of  the  Mediterranean,  about  five  miles  to  the  north  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Orontes.  There  to  this  day  may  be  seen  traces 
of  dock-works  and  engineering  achievements  which  have  not 
been  surpassed  in  modern  times.  Howson,  condensing  the 
description  of  Colonel  Chesney,  says,  "The  position  of  the 
ancient  flood-gates,  and  the  passage  through  which  the  ves- 
sels were  moved  from  the  inner  to  the  outer  harbor,  can  be 
accurately  marked.  The  very  piers  of  the  outer  harbor  are 
still  to  be  seen  under  the  water.  The  stones  are  of  great 
size,  some  of  them  twenty  feet  long,  five  feet  deep,  and  six 
feet  wide ;  and  they  were  fastened  to  each  other  with  iron 
cramps.  The  masonry  is  still  so  good  that  not  long  since 
a  Turkish  pasha  conceived  the  idea  of  clearing  out  and  re- 
pairing the  harbor."*    We  venerate  that  old  haven  in  Hol- 

*  Conybeare  and  Howson,  vol.  i.,  p.  149. 


Cyprus.  91 

land  from  which,  commended  to  God  by  their  beloved  pas- 
tor, the  Pilgrim  Fathers  set  'out  in  the  Mayflower  to  lay 
the  foundations  of  a  new  commonwealth,  where  they  might 
secure  "freedom  to  worship  God;"  but  to  the  Gentile 
churches  of  every  land  this  ancient  harbor  at  Seleucia, 
whose  stones  are  still  so  firmly  clamped  together,  is  a  place 
yet  more  to  be  remembered,  since  from  it  went  forth  those 
two  apostles  and  their  youthful  minister  with  this  for  their 
message  and  their  motto :  "  Christ  for  all  the  world,  and  all 
the  world  for  Christ." 

From  this  port  they  sailed  directly  to  the  island  of  Cy- 
prus. No  reasons  are  assigned  for  their  selection  of  this 
particular  field ;  but  they  may  have  been  influenced  by  the 
fact  that  it  was  the  birthplace  of  Barnabas,*  wdio  would  be 
familiar  with  the  habits  of  the  people,  and  would  naturally 
be  anxious  for  their  evangelization.  It  is  not  to  be  forgot- 
ten, also,  that  some  of  those  who  had  been  instrumental  in 
founding  the  Church  in  Antioch  were  natives  of  Cyprus,! 
and  would  therefore  be  pre-eminently  interested  in  having 
the  Gospel  carried  to  their  immediate  kinsmen.  Moreover, 
the  island  was  easy  of  access  from  Seleucia,  being,  in  fact, 
only  a  few  hours'  sail  from  the  main-land.  It  is  situated  in 
the  Mediterranean  Sea,  off  the  coast  of  Phoenicia  and  Ci- 
licia,  and  is  about  one  hundred  and  forty -eight  miles  in 
length,  by  about  forty  in  breadth.  It  has  been  identified 
through  Citium,  one  of  its  ancient  cities,  with  the  Chittim  of 
the  Old  Testament,  1:  and  it  was  originally  peopled  by  set- 
tlers from  Phoenicia  j  but  to  the  descendants  of  these  were 
added  a  mixture  of  colonists  from  different  parts  of  Greece. 
Its  name  is  derived  from  a  plant  §  v/hich  grows  in  abun- 


*  Acts  iv.,  36.  t  Acts  xi.,  20. 

X  Cesnola,  "  Cyprus:  its  Ancient  Cities,  Tombs,  and  Temples,"  p,  2. 
§  Henna — in  Greek,  Kvvpog  ;  in  Hebrew,  kopher. 


92  Paul  the  Missionary. 

dance  within  its  borders,  and  which  in  ancient  times  was 
made  to  produce  a  variety  of  oils  and  salves ;  but,  as  Cesno- 
la  tells  us,  its  chief  source  of  wealth  was  its  copper-mines, 
which  yielded  both  a  finer  quality  and  a  larger  supply  of 
that  metal  than  any  other  mines  known  to  the  ancients.  In 
fact,  from  its  connection  with  this  island,  that  mineral  came 
to  be  called  ^s  Cyprium,  which,  being  shortened  into  Cy- 
prum,  has  been  anglicized  into  copper.  Of  these  mines 
Herod  the  Great  long  enjoyed  a  monopoly,  keeping  half  of 
the  proceeds  to  himself,  and  taking  charge  of  the  other  half 
for  Augustus ;  and  that  fact  may  help  to  explain  how  it 
came  that  there  were  so  many  Jews  in  the  cities  of  Cyprus.* 

The  missionaries  landed  first  at  Salamis,  which  lies  on 
the  eastern  coast  of  the  island  a  little  to  the  north  of  the 
modern  city  of  Famagusta.  It  had  a  good  harbor,  and 
though  the  seat  of  government  had  been  transferred  from  it 
to  Paphos,  it  was  still  an  important  mercantile  town.  How- 
son  describes  it  as  being  in  the  apostle's  days  "  a  large  city 
by  the  sea -shore,"  and  Cesnola,  in  his  recent  interesting 
book  on  Cyprus,  speaks  of  it  in  these  terms  :  "  At  present  it 
is  nearly  covered  by  sand  drifted  from  the  sea-shore,  where 
it  lies  to  a  depth  of  some  ten  feet.  The  harbor  and  that 
portion  of  the  wall  fronting  the  sea  are  still  easily  traced. 
I  measured  the  length  of  the  wall,  and  found  it  6850  feet."t 
Here  they  found  Jews  in  such  abundance  that  there  were 
more  synagogues  than  one,  and  to  them  first  they  preached 
the  word  of  God,  but  with  what  results  the  historian  does 
not  inform  us. 

From  Salamis  they  journeyed  across  the  island  to  Paphos, 
which  stood  near  its  western  extremity.  The  city  thus  named 
was  that  known  as  New  Paphos,  and  was  about  six  miles  to 


*  See  Lewin,  vol.  i.,  p.  120;  Josephus,  "Ant,"  xvi.,  pp.4,  5  ;  Cesnola, 
p.  7.  t  Cesnola,  p.  202. 


Cyprus.  93 

the  north-west  of  the  more  ancient  town.  It  still  exists  un- 
der the  modernized  appellation  of  Baffa.  In  the  time  of  the 
apostle  it  was  the  head-quarters  of  the  worship  of  Venus, 
or  Aphrodite.  Here,  according  to  Greek  mythology,  that 
goddess  arose  from  the  sea -foam  ;  and  here  was  erected 
one  of  the  most  splendid  of  her  temples.  Almost  every 
classic  poet  has  sung  of  her  as  the  Paphian  Venus ;  but  it 
would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  her  worship  here  was 
in  alliance  with  Grecian  art.  On  the  contrary,  imported 
as  it  had  been  from  the  East  rather  than  the  West,  it  was  re- 
volting and  debasing  in  its  coarseness.  The  road  between 
Old  and  New  Paphos  was  often  crowded  with  gay  and  prof- 
ligate processions ;  strangers  came  constantly  to  visit  the 
shrine,  and  even  Titus,  on  his  way  to  prosecute  the  Jewish 
war,  made  a  pilgrimage  to  the  temple  of  the  goddess.  Ces- 
nola  has  graphically  described  the  influence  of  this  abom- 
inable idolatry  when  he  says,  "To  a  great  extent  it  decided 
the  character  of  public  and  private  morality  throughout  the 
island,  and  that  the  result  was  highly  disgraceful  may  be 
seen  from  numerous  passages  in  the  ancient  writers.  Every 
one  knows  the  description  which  Herodotus  gives  of  the 
custom  of  Babylonian  women  at  the  Temple  of  Mylitta,  the 
Assyrian  counterpart  of  Aphrodite,  and  he  adds  that  the 
same  thing  prevailed  in  Cyprus.  Later  writers  entirely  con- 
firm what  he  says  ;  and  the  pictures  which  they  draw  of  the 
grand  festivals  to  the  goddess  at  Paphos  leave  little  for  the 
imagination  of  man  to  invent,  one  would  think,  in  the  way 
of  gross  indulgence."*  Thus,  as  at  Antioch,  they  had  already 
confronted  the  worship  of  Apollo  in  its  chosen  seat ;  and  as 
afterward  at  Ephesus  they  unfurled  the  banner  of  the  cross 
under  the  shadow  of  Diana's  temple,  so  here  at  Paphos  they 
brought  the  Gospel  to  the  very  citadel   of  that  goddess 

*  Cesnola,  zibi  supra,  p.  8. 


94  Paul  the  Missionary. 

whose  homage  was  synonymous  with  the  most  degraded 
and  abommable  vice.  The  negro  servant  advised  his  mas- 
ter, who  was  a  minister,  and  who  had  received  competing 
calls  to  different  churches,  to  "  go  where  there  was  most 
devil ;"  and  that  was  precisely  the  principle  on  which  these 
apostolic  missionaries  proceeded.  Like  the  European  gen- 
eral, whose  tactics  consisted  in  pouring  mass  after  mass 
of  troops  on  the  centre  of  his  enemy's  position  until  he 
had  broken  that,  and  then  left  the  victory  to  spread  itself 
out  to  the  extremities  of  the  line,  so  the  leaders  of  the 
Christian  army  struck  at  idolatry  in  its  strongest  holds ;  and 
when  these  were  destroyed  it  was  comparatively  easy  to  van- 
quish it  elsewhere.  ^ 

At  Paphos  the  missionaries  came,  in  a  somewhat  remark- 
able way,  into  contact  with  the  representative  of  the  Roman 
Government,  whose  name  was  Sergius  Paulus ;  and  in  de- 
scribing him  as  "deputy,"  or,  rather,  as  the  word  should  be 
technically  rendered,  "proconsul,"  the  minute  accuracy  of 
the  sacred  historian  is  admirably  illustrated.  Under  the 
Empire  there  were  two  classes  of  foreign  provinces,  called 
respectively  the  imperial  and  the  senatorial.  The  imperial 
were  those  which  required  a  military  force,  and  which,  for 
that  reason,  the  emperor  kept  in  his  own  hands,  because  it 
was  important  to  him  at  least  that  the  entire  army  should 
always  be  under  his  personal  control.  The  senatorial  were 
those  which  were  at  peace,  and  so  gave  little  trouble  to  their 
rulers.  The  governors  of  the  imperial  provinces  were  nom- 
inated by  the  emperor,  and  were  called  propraetors.  The 
governors  of  the  senatorial  were  annually  elected  by  the 
senate,  and  were  styled  proconsuls.  But  if  at  any  time  dis- 
turbances broke  out  in  a  senatorial  province,  and  it  became 
necessary  to  place  it  under  military  rule,  it  was  transferred 
to  the  emperor,  and  so  it  might  happen  that  the  same  prov- 
ince was  at  one  time  under  a  proconsul,  and  at  another  un- 


Cyprus. 


95 


der  a  propraetor.  Something  like  this  occurred  in  the  case 
of  Cyprus.  At  first  it  was  an  imperial  province  governed 
by  a  proprietor ;  and  so  long  as  only  that  vv^as  known  some 
did  not  hesitate  to  say  that  Luke  was  in  error  here  in  call- 
ing Sergius  Paulus  a  "proconsul."  But  further  inquiry  has 
brought  to  light  the  fact  that  before  the  date  of  which  the 
evangelist  is  speaking  the  emperor  had  given  back  Cyprus 
and  Gallia  Narbonensis  to  the  Senate,  and  taken  Dalmatia 
in  exchange  for  them  ;  and  so  the  proper  title  of  the  gov- 
ernor of  Cyprus  just  at  this  time  was  "  proconsul."  Con- 
temporary records  name  two  proconsuls  in  the  reign  of 
Claudius  ;  and  Lewin*  engraves  an  ancient  coin  struck  in 
the  time  of  that  emperor,  which  has  on  one  side  the  head 
and  name  of  Claudius,  and  on  the  other  the  inscription  "  of 
the  Cypriotes  "  with  the  name  Procus,  and  as  his  title  the 
very  Greek  word  here  used  by  Luke.  Thus  the  correctness 
of  the  evangelist's  designation  is  confirmed  ;  but  within  the 
last  year  General  Cesnola  has  brought  to  light  an  inscrip- 
tion which  seems  to  make  mention  of  Sergius  Paulus  him- 
self under  the  title  of  proconsul.  It  is  much  mutilated, 
and  in  some  parts  the  meaning  is  uncertain ;  but  it  gives  a 
date  Eni  HAYxVOY  [ANejYHATOY  "  in  the  proconsulship  of 
Paulus ;"  and  Cesnola  says  this  is  most  probably  the  Ser- 
gius Paulus  who  is  mentioned  in  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
affirming  that  instances  of  the  suppression  of  one  of  two 
names  are  not  rare.f 

It  is  interesting  also  to  note  that  one  Sergius  Paulus  is 
named  twice  by  Pliny  among  the  Latin  authors  to  whom  he 
was  indebted  for  facts  recorded  in  his  "Natural  History;" 
and  as  that  writer  mentions  one  or  two  remarkable  things 
regarding  Cyprus,  we  may  conjecture  that  these  were  fur- 
nished to  him  by  this  proconsul,  who  may  have  occupied 

*  Vol.  i.,  p.  125.  t  Cesnola,  as  before,  pp.  229, 425. 

5 


96  Paul  the  Missionary. 

his  leisure  time  when  on  the  island  in  making  notes  of  his 
observations,  much  as  General  Cesnola  himself  did  when 
he  represented  America  among  its  people.* 

This  governor  is  here  described  as  a  "prudent"  man,  or, 
as  it  might  be  better  rendered,  "  a  man  of  intelligence." 
But  if  that  were  really  his  character,  one  is  disposed  to  ask 
how  he  came  to  allow  such  a  man  as  Bar-jesus,  the  sorcerer 
and  false  prophet  named  in  the  narrative,  to  have  any  fel- 
lowship with  him  or  influence  over  him.  Yet  a  very  slight 
acquaintance  with  the  state  of  religious  opinion  at  this  time 
throughout  the  Roman  Empire  will  enable  us  to  explain 
the  apparent  anomaly.  The  great  mass  of  the  ignorant 
population  were  wedded  to  the  existing  idolatries ;  and  a 
professed  adherence  to  the  old  superstitions  was  given  by 
many  others  for  no  better  reason  than  that  their  vicious 
habits  could  be  safely  indulged  under  the  cloak  of  devotion. 
But  in  reality  very  few  educated  men  could  be  found  who 
had  any  faith  even  in  the  simplest  elements  of  natural  re- 
ligion ;  while  amid  the  breaking  up  of  the  ancient  systems, 
and  the  rejection  of  the  elements  of  truth  which  they  all  in 
some  degree  contained,  there  was,  as  almost  always  hap- 
pens in  such  cases,  a  new  development  of  credulity,  and  a 
rich  harvest  was  reaped  by  soothsayers  and  false  prophets 
of  every  sort.  Those  who  were  dissatisfied  with  all  that 
philosophy  and  the  popular  religion  could  offer  for  their 
spiritual  wants  were  at  the  same  time  anxious  to  examine 
everything  which  offered  itself  as  a  new  revelation  from 
Heaven,  and  so  were  often  led  astray  by  cunning  craftiness 
which  was  lying  in  wait  for  their  deception.  The  city  of 
Rome  was  overrun  with  Oriental  sorcerers  who  made  a 
living  by  pretending  to  foretell  or  to  control  the  future  ;  and 

*  See  an  interesting  article  in  the  Contemporary  Revinv  for  May,  1878, 
by  Bishop  Lightfoot,  on  The  Acts,  illustrated  by  recent  discoveries. 


Cyprus.  97 

in  every  important  centre  of  population  there  was  a  plen- 
tiful crop  of  similar  impostors.  From  Syria,  from  Chaldsea, 
from  Egypt,  and  from  Phrygia  these  charlatans  came ;  but 
the  worst  and  most  cunning  of  them  all,  because  they  had 
fallen  from  the  only  divine  religion  of  antiquity,  were  the 
Jewish  magicians,  the  more  intellectual  of  whom  obtained 
ascendency  even  with  thoughtful  men.  Now,  the  presence 
of  Bar-jesus  at  the  court  of  Sergius  may  be  thus  accounted 
for.  The  consul  had  cast  off  the  old  beliefs,  but  he  had  not 
yet  found  anything  better  to  take  their  place.  His  soul  was 
in  a  state  of  blank  bewilderment  as  he  cried, "  Who  will 
show  me  any  good?"  The  question,  ''What  is  truth?" 
was  not  in  him,  as  it  was  in  Pilate,  the  flippant  inquiry  of  a 
scorner,  but  it  was  the  sad  and  serious  problem  on  which 
he  was  continually  pondering,  but  for  which  he  could  find  no 
adequate  solution.  In  these  circumstances  he  met  with  this 
Bar-jesus,  who  belonged  to  the  same  class  as  Sceva  and  his 
sons,  whom  Paul  afterward*  exposed  at  Ephesus,  and  who, 
with  whatever  errors  and  false  pretences  he  might  accom- 
pany his  statements,  might  yet  bring  before  him  the  great 
truths  which  were  enshrined  in  the  heart  of  Judaism,  name- 
ly, the  unity,  spirituality,  and  omnipresence  of  God.  For 
the  good  things  which  he  learned  at  his  lips  the  proconsul 
would  be  grateful ;  though  we  may  well  believe  that  he  knew 
not  what  to  make  of  the  claims  which  Bar-jesus  advanced, 
and  which,  through  his  knowledge  of  occult  science,  he  pro- 
fessed to  sustain  by  miracles.  This,  we  suppose,  was  the 
state  of  matters  with  him  when  he  heard  of  the  preaching  of 
Barnabas  and  Paul ;  and  in  the  same  spirit  of  inquiry  which 
impelled  him  to  listen  to  Bar-jesus,  he  sent  for  them,  desiring 
to  hear  what  they  had  to  communicate,  if  by  any  means  he 
might  attain  to  certainty  on  religious  subjects. 

*  Acts  xix.,  13-16. 


98  Paul  the  Missionary. 

This  procedure  of  his,  however,  was  bitterly  resented  by 
the  Magian.*  He  saw  that  his  position  and  occupation 
would  be  gone  if  the  new  doctrines  were  accepted  by  his 
patron ;  and  therefore  he  put  forth  all  his  efforts  to  counter- 
act their  teachers.  The  occasion  was  both  solemn  and  im- 
portant— like  that  on  which  Peter  confronted  Simon  Magus 
— and  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came  upon  Paul,  so  that,  in  di- 
rect contradiction  of  the  name  Bar-jesus,  a  son  of  the  Sav- 
iour, which  he  had  chosen  for  himself,  he  calls  the  sorcerer 
a  "  child  of  the  devil ;"  denounces  him  as  "full  of  all  subtil- 
ty  and  mischief ;"  stigmatizes  him  as  an  "  enemy  of  all  right- 
eousness ;"  accuses  him  of  "  perverting  the  right  ways  of  the 
Lord ;"  and  declares  that  he  should  be  "  blind,  not  seeing 
the  sun  for  a  season."  He  had  scarcely  spoken  when  a 
mist  and  a  darkness  fell  upon  the  deceiver,  who  went  about 
seeking  some  one  to  lead  him  by  the  hand ;  and  the  effect 
was  not  merely  to  break  the  spell  of  his  influence  over  the 
proconsul,  but  also  to  secure  the  faith  of  Paulus, "  who  was 
astonished  at  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord." 

In  connection  with  the  account  of  this  miracle  there  are 
some  things  which  call  for  a  little  further  elucidation.  Thus 
we  have  here  for  the  first  time  introduced  into  the  narrative 
the  name  of  Paul  as  the  equivalent  of  Saul,  which  hence- 
forth drops  entirely  out  of  use.  Now  we  cannot  help  ask- 
ing whether  this  change  had  any  special  connection  with  the 
events  which  we  have  just  been  describing.  Some  would 
answer  that  the  apostle  took  the  name  Paul  after  Sergius 
Paulus,  the  first  convert  of  any  great  position  in  society, 
whom  he  had  been  instrumental  in  making;  but  such  an 
idea  is  ridiculously  inconsistent  with  all  that  we  know  of 
the   humility  of  Paul.      Others,  observing  that  from   this 

*  That  is  the  meaning  of  the  Persian  word  Elymas,  which  is  here  em- 
ployed. 


Cyprws.  99 

point  of  the  history  onward  Barnabas  falls  into  the  second 
place,  and  marking,  also,  that  special  mention  is  made  of 
Paul's  being  "filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,"  have  supposed 
that  this  was  the  occasion  of  his  first  public  manifestation 
as  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles.     This  critical  juncture  they 
believe  to  be  indicated  by  his  triumph  over  an  apostate  Jew, 
by  the  performance  of  his  earliest  miracle,  and  by  the  con- 
version of  an  official  representative  of  Rome.     Now,  there- 
fore, v/as  the  time  for  the  introduction  of  his  apostolic  title ; 
and  so  they  conclude  that  was  the  reason  why  from  this  day 
forward  he  was  always  called  Paul.     But  to  me  all  such  ex- 
planations seem  to  be  too  ingenious  to  be  correct.     The 
simplest  view  of  the  matter  is  that  from  the  first  Saul  had 
two  names — the  one  Hebrew  in  form  and  termination,  and 
the  other  Roman  ;  and  that,  as  he  was  now  for  the  first  time 
moving  in  Gentile  society,  his  Roman  name  is  now  for  the 
first  time  employed.     It  was  a  common  thing  for  Jews  to 
take  a  second  name  assimilated  to  those  current  in  the 
countries  in  which  their  lot  was  cast.     Thus  it  had  been 
with  Joseph  in  Egypt,  with  Daniel  and  his  three  friends  in 
Babylon,  with  Esther  in  Persia ;  and  so  in  Tarsus  it  would 
be  natural  for  a  Jewish  youth  to  have  both  a  Jewish  and  a 
Gentile  name.     Indeed,  in  the  very  chapter  part  of  which 
we  have  been  considering  to-night  we  have  Simeon  called 
Niger;  and  elsewhere  we  have  John  Mark,  Joses  Barnabas, 
Joseph  Justus,  Judas  Barsabas,  Silas  Silvanus ;  and  after  the 
same  analog^'  we  have  here  "  Saul,  who  also  is  called  Paul." 
Another  thing  calling  for  special  remark  in  connection 
with  the  record  of  this  miracle  is  the  appearance  of  the 
phrase, "  being  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost."     This  cannot 
be  meant  to  imply  that  only  now  for  the  first  time  did  Paul 
receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  for  we  have  already  seen 
that  he  was  endowed  with  that,  immediately  after  his  con- 
version, through  the  agency  of  Ananias ;  but  it  seems  to  me 


loo  Paul  the  Missionary. 

to  indicate  that  a  peculiar  inspiration  prompted  him,  at  the 
moment,  to  take  the  course  which  he  adopted  with  Bar- 
jesus.  Apart  from  that  divine  impulse  we  have  no  warrant 
to  believe  that  any  miracle  would  have  been  wrought  in 
connection  with  his  words ;  for  there  is  a  very  perceptible 
difference  in  this  respect  between  our  Lord  and  his  apos- 
tles. The  Saviour's  supernatural  power  was  in  his  own 
will.  He  performed  his  miracles  when,  where,  and  how  he 
pleased.  His  ability  to  do  such  works  was  not  a  delegated 
thing,  but  inherent  in  his  own  divine  personality ;  but  it 
was  quite  otherwise  with  his  official  representatives.  They 
wrought  only  at  his  suggestion ;  and  so  the  working  of  mir- 
acles by  them  was  subservient  not  to  their  own  pleasure, 
but  to  his  wisdom.  Paul  could  perform  supernatural  signs 
only  when  he  was  specially  directed  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
do  so.  He  had  not  the  prerogative  of  doing  such  things 
when  he  pleased.  That  would  have  been  too  great  a  thing 
to  intrust  to  any  fallible  man,  and  the  Lord  kept  it  entirely 
in  his  own  hands.  While  he  was  upon  the  earth,  he  exer- 
cised his  own  discretion  as  to  working  or  refraining  from 
working  miracles  in  certain  places ;  and  after  he  had  gone 
to  glory,  he  still  controlled  the  movements  of  his  apostles  in 
this  regard  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  So  Paul  and  his  brother 
apostles  wrought  these  mighty  deeds  only  when,  as  in  the 
present  instance,  they  were  divinely  directed  to  do  so ;  and 
the  occasions  on  which  they  were  so  directed  were  common- 
ly such  as  constituted  their  miracles  "  signs  "  which  were  as 
much  illustrations  of  the  truth  as  confirmations  of  it.  This 
will  account  for  some  otherwise  perplexing  things  in  the 
history  of  Paul.  Thus  he  could  heal  the  Governor  of  Malta 
of  his  disease,  but  he  could  not  remove  from  himself  that 
thorn  in  the  flesh  which  so  perplexed  him  ;  he  had  to  leave 
Trophimus  at  Miletum  sick  f  and  he  could  not  shorten  the 

*  2  Tim.  iv.,  20. 


Cyprus.  ioi 

long  and  dangerous  illness  of  Epaphroditus  *  So,  again, 
though  he  could  foretell  that  no  one  of  his  fellow-passengers 
in  the  ship  would  be  drowned,!  he  could  not  forecast  his  own 
future,  or  discover  how  it  would  go  with  him  in  the  matter  of 
his  appeal  to  Caesar. $  These  things  are  difficult  to  explain, 
until,  under  the  guidance  of  such  phraseology  as  that  which 
Luke  has  here  employed,  we  recognize  that  the  ability  to 
work  miracles  was  not  a  prerogative  of  Paul's  own,  to  be 
exercised  by  him  just  as  he  pleased,  but  was  held  by  him  at 
the  will  of  the  Master  himself,  and  used  by  him  only  on  the 
impulse  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  at  such  times  and  in  such  cir- 
cumstances as  divine  wisdom  determined  to  be  appropriate. 
The  early  Christians  were  not  permitted,  if  I  may  so  express 
myself,  to  play  v/ith  miracles  j  for  such  a  power  in  undirect- 
ed human  hands  might  have  proved  like  an  edge-tool  in  the 
grasp  of  an  infant,  and  might  have  been  detrimental  both 
to  themselves  and  others ;  but  they  held  this  gift  of  super- 
natural power  subject  to  the  special  guidance  of  the  Master 
whose  they  were,  and  whom  they  served  ;  and  therefore  their 
exercise  of  it  was  always  salutary  in  its  purpose  and  signifi- 
cant in  its  form. 

It  was  particularly  so  in  the  present  instance ;  for  this 
was  a  miracle  of  rebuke,  and  it  took  a  most  suggestive 
shape.  The  wonderful  works  of  the  Lord  Jesus  were  al- 
most all  beneficent.  Only  on  two  occasions  did  his  super- 
nal power  go  forth  in  judgment,  and  in  both  the  bodies  of 
men  were  spared ;  for  the  one  was  the  drowning  of  the 
herd  of  swine,  and  the  other  was  the  blasting  of  the  fig-tree. 
The  miracles  of  the  apostles,  also,  were  in  the  main  works 
of  mercy ;  yet  one  sign  of  judgment  was  wrought  by  each 
of  those  two  who  were  acknowledged  as  leaders  among 
them.     And  it  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  the  principle  on 

*  Phil,  ii.,  26,  27.  t  Acts  xxvii.,  22.  t  Phil,  ii.,  23. 


102  Paul  the  Missionary. 

which  these  were  performed,  for  the  deaths  of  Ananias  and 
Sapphira  were  designed  to  be  a  warning  against  hypocriti- 
cal connection  with  the  Church ;  and  the  blindness  of  Bar- 
jesus  was  meant  to  be  a  salutary  caution  to  all  those  who 
set  themselves  up  in  rivalry  against  the  truth  or  in  antago- 
nism to  it.  We  must  note  also  that  this  blindness  was  only 
"for  a  season;"  and  it  may  be  that  it  became  a  means  of 
spiritual  illumination  to  him  on  whom  it  was  inflicted.  We 
cannot  tell ;  and  though,  where  Scripture  is  silent,  we  are 
forbidden  to  dogmatize,  yet  we  are  not  compelled  to  despair 
of  the  after  conversion  of  this  hitherto  misguided  man. 

For  the  rest,  we  cannot  fail  to  be  impressed  with  the 
symbolical  nature  of  this  miracle.  This  blindness  was  to 
Bar-jesus  an  emblem  of  his  own  spirit  and  work.  As  one 
has  well  said,  "  His  moral  sense  v/as  blunted  ;  and  in  at- 
tempting to  sway  Sergius  Paulus,  it  was  the  blind  leading 
the  blind,  while  he  needed  to  be  led  himself.  He  might 
profess  to  work  by  the  finger  of  God,  but  the  heavy  hand 
of  God  fell  upon  him,  and  its  shadow  extinguished  his  vi- 
sion. His  sin  might  be  read  in  his  judgment.  His  boast 
was  of  insight,  but  he  was  taught  that  he  saw  nothing."* 
Or  perhaps  the  significance  of  this  judgment  may  be  found 
in  its  forecast  of  the  doom  of  those  who  love  the  darkness 
rather  than  the  light.  Bar-jesus  would  not  open  his  eyes 
to  see  the  truth  which  Paul  proclaimed,  and  God  closed  his 
vision  to  the  objects  round  him — a  type  of  the  sealing  up 
of  the  inner  sight  of  those  who  perversely  persist  in  resist- 
ing him  who  is  "  the  light  of  the  world."  There  is  an  ac- 
count given  in  ancient  Roman  history  of  one  who  had  been 
proscribed  under  the  government  of  the  Triumvirs,  and  who, 
to  save  his  life,  disguised  himself  by  wearing  a  black  patch 
over  one  eye.      A  good  while  after,  when  the  danger  was 

*  "  Paul  the  Preacher,"  by  John  Eadie,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  p.  62. 


Cyprus.  103 

past,  he  took  off  the  patch,  but  in  vain,  for  the  sight  of 
the  eye  was  gone.*  Even  so,  if  men  stubbornly  shut  their 
hearts  against  God's  truth,  their  consciences  will  become 
seared,  their  spirits  will  be  hardened  with  insensibility,  and 
the  light  that  is  in  them  will  become  darkness.  This  is  the 
great  law  of  the  divine  administration, "  Unto  every  one  that 
hath  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  abundance  :  but 
from  him  that  hath  not  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  which 
he  hath  ;"t  or,  as  the  Lord  has  elsewhere  expressed  it, 
''  For  judgment  I  am  come  into  this  world,  that  they  which 
see  not  might  see ;  and  that  they  which  see  might  be  made 
blind."!  Beloved  brethren,  be  on  your  guard  against  this 
danger !  See  that  you  resist  not  the  force  of  God's  truth  ! 
Let  not  the  god  of  this  world  blind  your  minds,  lest  the 
light  of  the  glorious  Gospel  of  Christ  should  shine  unto 
you ;  for  if  you  thus  shut  out  the  truth  from  you,  there  is 
nothing  but  perdition  before  you.  While  you  have  the  light, 
walk  in  the  light ;  for  if  you  refuse  to  do  so,  the  day  will 
come  when  a  mist  and  a  darkness  shall  fall  upon  you,  and 
you  will  vainly  seek  for  one  to  lead  you  by  the  hand. 
Therefore  "give  glory  to  the  Lord  your  God,  before  he 
cause  darkness,  and  before  your  feet  stumble  upon  the  dark 
mountains,  and,  while  ye  look  for  light,  he  turn  it  into  the 
shadow  of  death,  and  make  it  gross  darkness.  But  if  ye 
will  not  hear  it,  my  soul  shall  weep  in  secret  places  for  your 
pride ;  and  mine  eye  shall  weep  sore,  and  run  down  with 
tears,  because  the  Lord's  flock  is  carried  away  captive."§ 

We  cannot  tell  how  long  "Paul  and  his  company"  re- 
mained in  Paphos,  or  what  determined  them  to  choose 
Pamphylia  and  Pisidia  as  their  next  field  of  labor.     Per- 

*  See  "  Memoirs  of  Archbishop  Whately,"  vol.  ii,,  p.  46. 
t  Matt.  XXV.,  29.  f  John  ix.,  39. 

§  Jeremiah  xiii.,  16,  17. 


104  Paul  the  Missionary. 

haps,  however,  when  they  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
time  had  arrived  for  their  leaving  Cyprus,  their  future  des- 
tination might  be  settled  by  an  apparently  casual  thing, 
such  as  the  opportune  sailing  of  a  vessel  for  Perga. 

The  district  of  Pamphylia  lay  between  Lycia  and  Cilicia 
along  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  was  composed 
of  the  territory  enclosed  between  the  mountain  range  of 
Taurus  and  the  sea.  Perga,  its  capital,  was  situated  on  the 
river  Ccestus,  about  seven  miles  above  its  mouth,  and  was 
as  near  to  Paphos  at  the  western  extremity  of  Cyprus  as 
Seleucia  v/as  to  Salamis  at  its  eastern.  A  short  sail,  there- 
fore, would  suffice  to  take  the  brethren  thither  ;  and  as  they 
landed  they  would  see,  crowning  the  hill  behind  the  city, 
the  Temple  of  Diana,  to  whose  worship  the  inhabitants  were 
devoted.  It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  the  missionaries 
made  any  evangelistic  efforts  here  on  this  their  first  visit. 
This  may  have  been  due  either  to  the  fact  that,  so  far  as  ap- 
jDcars,  there  was  no  Jewish  synagogue  in  the  place,  or  to  the 
eagerness  of  the  apostle  to  press  forward  into  the  inland  re- 
gion behind  Mount  Taurus;  but  it  was  more  probably  owing 
to  the  disappointment  occasioned  by  the  defection  of  John 
Mark,  who  at  this  point  left  the  missionaiy  band,  and  re- 
turned to  Jerusalem ;  for  Paul  had  an  exceedingly  sensitive 
temperament,  and  would  be  greatly  disconcerted  by  Mark's 
desertion.  It  may  seem  ungenerous,  indeed,  to  give  such 
an  explanation  of  his  speedy  departure  from  Perga,  but 
the  better  acquainted  we  become  with  him,  the  more  natu- 
ral will  this  account  of  the  matter  appear ;  and,  blame  it  as 
we  may,  we  cannot  wonder  that,  after  Mark  had  gone  from 
them,  both  he  and  Barnabas  should  hasten  away  from  a 
city  which  the  conduct  of  their  companion  had  linked  with 
a  most  unpleasant  association. 

But  how  shall  we  explain  Mark's  departure  from  them  ? 
Perhaps  he  had  not  entered  on  the  work  in  the  right  spirit. 


Cyprus. 


105 


and  so,  having  had  a  pleasant  trip  through  his  mother's  na- 
tive island,  he  withdrew  from  the  dangers  which  he  feared 
would  beset  them  in  Pamphylia  and  Pisidia.  Perhaps, 
through  his  Jewish  prejudices,  he  was  not  yet  in  full  sym- 
pathy with  the  movement  for  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles 
and  their  reception,  without  regard  to  the  Mosaic  law,  into 
the  Church.  Perhaps  he  was  displeased  at  the  pre-emi- 
nence into  which  Paul  had  been  advanced,  and  w^as  jealous 
for  the  honor  of  his  uncle,  who  had  apparently  been  put  into 
the  second  place ;  or  perhaps  he  was  a  little  homesick,  and 
longed  for  a  sight  of  the  dear  friends  whom  he  had  left  in 
Jerusalem.  Probably  there  was  a  mingling  of  all  these  in 
the  motives  by  which  he  was  actuated ;  and  though  his  con- 
duct may  have  been  natural  in  a  young  man,  it  was  coward- 
ly in  its  character,  and  painful  in  its  results.  As  we  shall 
afterward  learn,  he  came  to  see  his  error,  and  ultimately  re- 
gained the  full  confidence  of  Paul ;  but  not  before  his  de- 
fection had  been  the  occasion  of  the  most  painful  episode 
in  the  life  of  our  apostle,  when  the  contention  between  him 
and  Barnabas  was  so  sharp  "that  they  departed  asunder 
one  from  the  other."* 

It  is  not  well  to  anticipate  events  which  must  come  up 
again  for  review ;  nevertheless,  I  cannot  conclude  to-night 
without  addressing  a  few  words  of  exhortation  to  young 
Christians,  founded  on  this  false  step  of  Mark,  and  its  after- 
results  as  I  have  just  now  briefly  referred  to  them. 

Let  those  who  have  entered  the  service  of  the  Lord  be 
on  their  guard  against  allowing  any  influence  to  damp  their 
ardor  or  to  cool  their  zeal.  Having  put  their  hands  to  the 
plough,  let  them  beware  of  looking  back.  He  who  enlists 
into  the  army  of  Christ  does  so  for  life;  and  no  personal 
pique  or  petty  jealousy  of  others  should  move  him  to  desert 

*  Acts  XV.,  39. 


io6  Paul  the  Missionary. 

his  colors.  Not  even  the  comforts  of  his  home  or  the  fel- 
lowship of  those  of  his  own  household  ought  to  draw  him 
from  his  allegiance  to  his  commander.  The  Lord  is  the 
dwelling-place  of  his  people,  and  in  him  they  may  have  a 
home  in  any  place ;  while  in  the  brotherhood  of  believers 
they  may  have  more  than  made  up  to  them  their  loss  of 
fireside  communion  with  their  kindred.  The  Master  him- 
self hath  said,  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  There  is  no  man  that 
hath  left  house,  or  brethren,  or  sisters,  or  father,  or  mother, 
or  wife,  or  children,  or  lands,  for  my  sake,  and  the  gospel's, 
but  he  shall  receive  a  hundredfold  now  in  this  time,  houses, 
and  brethren,  and  sisters,  and  mothers,  and  children,  and 
lands,  with  persecutions ;  and  in  the  world  to  come  eternal 
life."*  And  he  who  has  any  true  faith  in  God's  omnipres- 
ence can  sing : 

"To  me  remains  nor  place  nor  time, 
My  country  is  in  every  clime  ; 
I  can  be  calm  and  free  from  care 
On  any  shore,  since  God  is  there." 

But  the  defection  of  the  young  disciple,  besides  doing  in- 
jury to  himself,  may,  as  in  the  instance  before  us,  cause  se- 
rious alienation  between  honored  servants  of  Christ,  and  so 
give  occasion  to  the  enemies  of  the  Lord  to  blaspheme.  We 
are  often  told  that  old  members  of  the  Church  may  prove 
a  stumbling-block  to  those  who  are  entering  on  the  Chris- 
tian life,  by  their  inconsistencies  j  but  we  do  not  hear  young 
disciples  warned  as  frequently  as  they  ought  to  be,  that 
their  fickleness  may  create  strife  and  contention  between 
those  who  otherwise  would  have  been  true  yoke-fellows  in 
the  Lord.  Mark  was  the  occasion  of  a  quarrel  between 
Paul  and  Barnabas ;  and  in  many  a  modern  church  the  el- 
ders would  be  peaceful  co-operators  but  for  the  vagaries  of 

*  Mark  x.,  29,  30. 


Cyprus.  107 

some  young  and  unstable  novice,  who,  being  related  to  an 
influential  Joses,  becomes  at  once  the  occasion  of  unseemly 
partisanship.  Now,  in  such  controversies  there  are  usually 
faults  all  round ;  but  the  first  fault  is  always  in  the  vacilla- 
tion of  the  conceited  youth,  who  should  be  emphatically  told 
so,  and  should  be  warned  to  be  steadfast  for  the  future.  Not 
for  his  own  progress  alone,  therefore,  but  also  for  the  peace 
and  prosperity  of  the  Church,  it  is  indispensable  that  the 
convert  should  be  unwavering  in  his  perseverance.  He 
ought  to  think  of  something  else  than  his  own  comfort  or 
convenience,  or  pre-eminence.  He  ought  to  remember  that 
the  quiet  and  harmonious  working  of  the  Church  as  a 
whole  is  far  more  important  than  he  is  ;  and,  lest  some  Paul 
and  Barnabas  should  be  stirred  into  contention  over  him, 
he  should  learn  patiently  to  "endure  hardness  as  a  good 
soldier  of  Jesus  Christ." 

But  there  is  another  side  to  this  subject;  and  if  there 
should  be  any  one  here  who  has  made  a  stumble  on  the 
threshold  of  his  spiritual  life,  let  him  not  imagine  that  he  is 
beyond  recovery.  As  we  shall  afterward  see,  Mark  found 
his  way  again  to  the  front  rank  of  the  disciples,  and  regain- 
ed his  place  in  the  confidence  of  Paul.  So  it  may  be  with 
you.  Why  not  then  begin  anew  to-night  ?  He  who  restored 
Peter  will  not  cast  out  you.  Think  not  that  you  have  lost 
your  only  opportunity.  You  have  another  now;  and  though 
some  may  object  to  put  you  back  at  once  into  your  old 
place  as  Paul  did  with  Mark,  do  not  interpret  your  Saviour 
through  their  conduct.  He  is  better  even  than  the  best  of 
his  servants  ;  and  is  it  not  written  of  him,  "  A  bruised  reed 
shall  he  not  break,  and  the  smoking  flax  shall  he  not 
quench?"  Paul  could  not  endure  the  fitful  flame  which 
Mark  seemed  to  be  emitting,  and  w^as  for  blowing  it  out 
altogether ;  but  Jesus  fanned  it  into  a  steady  blaze.  Paul 
could  not  bear  the  harsh  note  which  came  from  Mark,  and 


io8  Paul  the  Missionary. 

was  for  breaking  the  bruised  reed;  but  Jesus  gently  straight- 
ened it  out  again,  so  that  there  came  from  it  the  sweet  mu- 
sic of  his  praise.  Doubt  not,  therefore,  his  reception  of  you. 
Remember  that  the  greatest  of  all  sins  you  can  commit  is  to 
despair  of  his  grace.  Take  hold  of  his  hand  again  to-night, 
and  see  how  he  will  fulfil  for  you  the  promise  that  "  he  that 
is  feeble  shall  be  as  David." 


VI. 

THE  FIRST  RECORDED  SERMON  OF  PAUL, 

Acts  xiii.,  14-52. 

FROM  Perga  Paul  and  Barnabas  journeyed  up  across 
the  mountains,  on  to  the  high  table-land  which  forms 
the  interior  of  Asia  Minor,  and  made  their  first  missionary 
efforts  in  Antioch  of  Pisidia.  Their  way  led  through  wild 
passes,  in  which,  at  times,  Alpine  torrents  ran  with  foaming 
impetuosity;  and  as  the  whole  region  was  infested  with 
brigands,  this  may  have  been  one  of  the  occasions  on  which 
Paul  was  exposed  to  those  "perils  of  rivers"  and  "perils  of 
robbers  "  to  which  he  has  referred  in  one  of  his  letters  * 
The  city  which  now  became  the  scene  of  his  labors  is  to  be 
carefully  distinguished  from  its  more  illustrious  namesake 
on  the  banks  of  the  Orontes.  It  lay  almost  due  North 
from  Perga,  and  was  nearly  a  hundred  miles  from  the  sea- 
shore. It  was  built  on  the  southern  slope  of  the  ridge 
which  formed  the  boundary  between  Phrygia  and  Pisidia, 
so  that  it  was  referred  to  sometimes  as  belonging  to  the 
one,  and  sometimes  as  forming  part  of  the  other.  It  was 
founded  by  Seleucus  Nicator,  and  after  it  came  under  the 
Roman  power  it  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being,  like  Phi- 
lippi,  a  Roman  colony.  Its  population  was  composed,  in 
its  lowest  stratum,  of  native  Pisidians,  who  spoke  in  2. patois 
of  their  own.     Its  middle  class  consisted  of  Greek  settlers, 


*  2  Cor.  xi.,  26. 


no  Paul  the  Missionary. 

who  retained  their  mother  -  tongue ;  and  its  upper  stratum 
of  Roman  colonists,  who  used  the  Latin  language.  Besides, 
these  there  were  many  Jews,  who  statedly  met  for  worship 
in  a  synagogue  of  their  own.  About  forty  years  ago  its 
ruins  were  discovered  by  an  English  clergyman,*  in  the  im- 
mediate neighborhood  of  the  modern  town  of  Yalobatch ; 
and,  judging  from  the  fact  that  among  them  were  found  as 
many  as  twenty  arches  which  seem  to  have  formed  part  of 
an  immense  aqueduct,  it  must  have  been  a  place  of  consid- 
erable importance. 

Here,  following  the  plan  which  they  invariably  adopted, 
Paul  and  Barnabas  addressed  themselves  first  to  the  Jews. 
They  probably  had  interviews  with  some  of  their  fellow- 
countrymen  during  the  ordinary  days  of  the  week,  and  ex- 
plained to  them  the  purpose  of  their  mission  and  the  nature 
of  their  message.  This  would  create  a  curiosity  to  hear 
still  further  from  them ;  and  accordingly,  when  they  appear- 
ed in  the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath,  they  were  publicly  call- 
ed upon,  after  the  reading  of  the  law  and  the  prophets,  to 
explain  their  errand.  In  response  to  this  request,  Paul  de- 
livered the  address  of  which  a  summary  has  been  preserved 
for  us  by  the  sacred  historian. 

A  little  thing,  somewhat  characteristic  of  the  apostle,  has 
been  brought  to  light  by  Bengel  in  connection  with  the  re- 
lation of  this  discourse  to  the  exercises  by  which  it  was  pre- 
ceded. The  synagogue  lessons,  like  those  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  among  ourselves,  were  arranged  to  be  read  in  stated 
order,  one  from  the  law  and  one  from  the  prophets.  Now, 
in  the  commencement  of  his  address,  Paul  uses  three  Greek 
words,  partly  rare,  and  partly  peculiar  to  the   Scriptures.f 

*  Rev.  Mr.  ArundcU,  then  chaplain  at  Smyrna ;  see  Hovvson,  vol.  i., 
p.  182. 

t  These  are  v^uxt^v,  exa/feff ;  trpo7ro(p6pr](rtr,  suffered  their  manners; 
and  KaTeKXijpovojXTjcn',  divided  by  lot. 


The  First  Recorded  Sermon  of  Paul.  m 

Of  these  the  first  is  found  in  Isaiah  i.,  2,  and  the  sec- 
ond and  third  in  Deuteronomy  i.,  31,38.  It  happens,  too, 
that  these  two  chapters,  the  first  of  Deuteronomy  and  the 
first  of  Isaiah,  are  read  to  this  day  on  the  same  Sabbath 
among  the  Jews ;  and  therefore  we  may  reasonably  infer 
that  both  were  read  in  the  service  on  that  Sabbath  in  An- 
tioch ;  and  that,  just  as  he  afterward  took  the  inscription  on 
the  Athenian  altar  for  the  starting-point  of  his  address  on 
Mars'  Hill,  so  here  Paul  commenced  his  discourse  w'ith  a 
reference  to  the  Scriptures  which  had  only  a  few  minutes 
before  been  brought  before  them  as  the  lessons  for  the  day.* 

We  have  here  the  first  reported  sermon  of  our  apostle ; 
and  as  it  has  in  it  the  germs  of  those  methods  of  presenting 
and  enforcing  the  truth  which  have  given  to  all  his  doctri- 
nal epistles  their  peculiarity  and  power,  it  will  amply  repay 
the  most  careful  analysis. 

The  audience  was  composed  of  those  who  were  Jews  by 
birth  and  those  who  are  styled  "  religious  proselytes, "t 
and  were  addressed  by  Paul  as  ''ye  that  fear  God."  These 
last  w^ere  not  formally  connected  with  the  Jewish  Church. 
They  were  probably  thoughtful  Gentiles,  who  had  renounced 
polytheism  and  idolatr}^,  and  who,  though  they  did  not  sub- 
mit themselves  to  the  Mosaic  ritual  in  everything,  yet  wor- 
shipped the  one  true  God,  joined  in  the  services  of  the  s}ti- 
agogue,  and  were  commonly  regarded  by  the  Jews  with  a 
friendly  feeling,  though  they  were  still  viewed  by  them  as 
Gentiles,  with  whom  they  could  not  eat.  They  had  all  the 
knowledge  of  the  Jews  without  their  narrowness,  and  among 
them  generally  were  the  first-fruits  of  the  apostle's  labors  in 
Gentile  lands. $     Now,  an  audience  composed  of  two  such 


*"See  "Bengelii  Gnomon,"  iit  loc.  t  Acts  xiii.,43. 

}  Jacobs's  "Ecclesiastical  Polity  of  the  New  Testament,"  note  on  pp. 
49,  50- 


112  Paul  the  Missionary. 

classes — one  characterized  by  national  exclusiveness,  and  the 
other  by  an  eager  longing  for  the  truth  and  a  determination 
to  weigh  with  candor  everything  that  would  be  said — was  not 
the  easiest  to  handle ;  yet,  in  the  course  which  Paul  pursued, 
we  see  how  he  has  already  determined  to  become  "all  things 
to  all  men,  that  he  might  by  all  means  save  some."  He 
had  that  to  say  which,  if  abruptly  uttered,  would  have  roused 
all  the  bitterness  of  bigoted  prejudice  against  him ;  and  so 
he  began  in  an  easy,  natural,  and  conciliatory  manner,  and 
led  his  hearers  gradually  up  to  the  truth  which  he  desired 
to  put  before  them. 

The  discourse  itself  may  be  divided  into  four  sections, 
which  may  be  styled  respectively  historical,  apologetical, 
doctrinal,  and  practical. 

The  historical  section  bears  a  considerable  resemblance 
to  the  address  of  Stephen  before  the  council  at  Jerusalem, 
and  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  words  of  the  protomartyr 
were  fresh  in  the  memory  of  the  apostle  while  he  spoke. 
Like  his  great  forerunner,  Paul  sought  to  gain  a  hearing  by 
referring  first  to  those  subjects  in  regard  to  which  he  and 
his  Jewish  kinsmen  were  agreed,  while  at  the  same  time  he 
so  constructed  his  historical  review  as  to  make  it  subserve 
the  purpose  of  argument.  His  summary  is  more  brief  and 
general  than  that  of  Stephen ;  because  he  was  not  put  upon 
his  defence,  and  was  required  only  to  give  a  clear  and  pos- 
itive exposition  of  the  truth  which  he  had  to  communicate. 
Hence  he  could  choose  his  own  ground ;  and  with  the  view 
of  showing  that  the  system  of  Moses  never  was  intended  to 
be  God's  final  word  to  men,  but  was  designed  rather  to  be 
a  halting-place  on  the  way  toward  the  full  manifestation  of 
God's  purpose  of  mercy  to  mankind  at  large,  he  began  with 
the  election  of  the  patriarchs,  and  came  down  through  the 
Exodus,  the  settlement  of  the  tribes  in  Canaan,  and  the  rule 
of  the  Judges,  until  the  setting  up  of  the  monarchy  under 


The  First  Recorded  Sermon  of  Paul.         113 

David,  in  whose  family  the  hopes  of  the  people  were  cen- 
tred, as  that  from  which  the  great  deliverer  was  to  arise. 
Thus  from  the  very  beginning  there  had  been  a  gradual  ev- 
olution in  their  history,  working  toward  that  which  was  to 
be  its  climax  and  culmination ;  but  that  evolution  had  been 
always  under  the  guiding  intelligence  of  their  God.  It  was 
no  accidental  thing,  nor  even  any  survival  of  the  fittest  in  a 
blind  "struggle  for  existence ;"  but  instead  the  result  of  the 
superintending  wisdom  of  Jehovah  ;  for  the  most  cursory 
reader  of  this  address  cannot  fail  to  note  the  prominence 
v/hich  Paul  gives  throughout  this  portion  of  his  discourse 
to  the  sovereign  agency  of  God.  It  was  he  who  chose  the 
fathers  ;  it  was  he  who  brought  the  people  out  of  Eg^^Dt  and 
led  them  through  the  wilderness  ;  it  was  he  who  destroyed 
before  them  the  nations  of  Canaan,  and  divided  their  land  to 
them  by  lot ;  it  was  he  who  gave  them  the  judges  ;  it  was  he 
who  rejected  the  dynasty  of  Saul,  and  selected  that  of  Da- 
vid ;  and  equally  it  was  he  who  from  the  seed  of  David  had 
raised  up  unto  Israel  a  Saviour,  Jesus.  Now,  as  in  all  the 
former  instances  the  people's  interest  lay  in  accepting  the 
appointment  of  Jehovah,  so  Paul  argues  that  their  safety  in 
the  present  case  also  was  to  be  secured  by  heartily  receiv- 
ing the  Saviour  whom  he  proclaimed.  His  appeal  thus 
stated,  or  rather  perhaps  implied,  was  all  the  more  power- 
ful because  he  left  these  facts  to  speak  for  themselves,  with- 
out seeking  at  this  stage  of  his  address  to  point  the  warn- 
ing which  they  suggested,  and  because  he  as  yet  said  noth- 
ing that  could  be  construed  into  disparagement  of  that  law 
which,  alas  !  had  now  become  to  them  almost  as  much  a 
snare  as  the  brazen  serpent  was  to  their  fathers  in  the  days 
of  Hezekiah,  when  that  monarch  broke  it  in  fragments,  and 
called  it  "  a  piece  of  brass."  He  had  dealt  thus  far  only 
in  statements  which  they  could  not  controvert. 

But  when  he  spoke  of  Jesus  as  a  Saviour  out  of  the 


114  Paul  the  Missionary. 

House  of  David,  the  question  must  have  started  to  their 
minds,  "  Does  he  mean  to  allege  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is 
the  promised  Messiah?"  and  in  connection  with  that  there 
would  be  a  desire  to  know  what  evidence  he  advanced  in 
behalf  of  the  claim  which  he  made  for  the  Nazarene. 

To  meet  that,  Paul  proceeds  to  what  I  have  called  the 
apologetical  portion  of  the  address,  and  gives  three  distinct 
proofs  of  the  genuineness  of  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus. 
The  first  of  these  is  derived  from  the  testimony  of  John  the 
Baptist,  who,  when  the  people  would  have  been  delighted  to 
hail  him  as  their  deliverer,  disclaimed  the  honor  for  himself, 
but  pointed  them  to  Jesus,  and  considered  his  own  course 
fulfilled  when  he  had  introduced  them  to  him. 

The  second  is  founded  on  the  fact  that  by  their  very  re- 
jection and  crucifixion  of  Jesus,  they  that  dwelt  at  Jerusa- 
lem and  their  rulers  were  fulfilling  the  prophecies  which 
went  before  concerning  him.  The  historian  here  has  not 
specified  the  predictions  to  which  Paul  referred ;  but  doubt- 
less they  would  include  the  following:  "When  they  knew 
him  not  they  realized  the  prediction,  '  There  is  no  form  nor 
comeliness  that  we  should  desire  him.'  In  their  condemn- 
ing him  was  verified  the  oracle,  '  He  was  oppressed  and  he 
was  afflicted.'  Their  placing  of  his  cross  between  those  of 
two  thieves  brought  to  pass  that '  voice ' — '  and  he  was  num- 
bered with  the  transgressors.'  When  he  was  laid  in  Jo- 
seph's grave  the  divine  declaration  was  confirmed, '  and  he 
was  with  a  rich  man  in  his  death.'  "* 

The  third  proof  of  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus  here  ad- 
vanced was  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  whereby  he  was 
"declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with  power,"  and  the  pre- 
diction in  the  second  Psalm,  "  Thou  art  my  son,  this  day 
have  I  begotten  thee,"  was  accomplished.      Nor  was  this 

*  "  Paul  the  Preacher,"  by  John  Eadie,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  p.  79. 


The  First  Recorded  Sermon  of  Paul.  115 

raising  of  Jesus  from  the  dead  a  mere  temporary  thing, 
like  that  of  the  widow's  son  by  Elijah,  or  that  of  the  Shu- 
namite's  child  by  Elisha,  for  they  died  again,  and  returned 
to  corruption ;  but  Jesus  rose  to  be  the  abiding  recipient 
of  "  the  sacred  promises  once  made  sure  to  David."*  He 
came  forth  from  the  grave  to  have  fulfilled  in  him  the 
prophecy  made  by  Nathan  to  David,  "Thine  house  and  thy 
kingdom  shall  be  established  forever  before  thee,  thy  throne 
shall  be  established  forever ;"  and  so  he  is  the  king  of  a 
spiritual  and  enduring  dominion  which  is  to  be  universal. 
This  statement  the  apostle  fortifies  by  a  reference  to  the 
words  in  the  sixteenth  Psalm,  "  Thou  shalt  not  suffer  thy 
Holy  One  to  see  corruption ;"  which  could  not  be  inter- 
preted of  David  himself,  since,  after  serving  his  generation 
by  the  will  of  God,  he  fell  asleep,  and  was  laid  unto  his  fa- 
thers and  saw  corruption ;  and  which  therefore  must  refer  to 
his  son  and  Lord  whom  God  raised  from  the  dead.  Thus, 
by  the  testimony  of  the  Baptist  regarding  him,  by  the  ful- 
filment of  prophecy  in  his  rejection  and  crucifixion  by  the 
Jews,  and  by  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  Paul  proves 
that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  indeed  the  Messiah.  And  as  in 
the  former  part  of  his  address  we  are  reminded  of  the  words 
of  Stephen,  so  in  this  we  have  vividly  recalled  to  us  those 
of  Peter  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  which  refer  to  the  same 
Psalms  of  David,  and  draw  the  same  inferences  from  them. 
That,  however,  does  not  in  the  least  invalidate  the  indepen- 
dence of  Paul,  or  imply  that  he  borrowed  from  his  brother 
apostle.  It  was  natural  that,  in  seeking  to  establish  the 
same  conclusion,  they  should  use  similar  arguments,  espe- 
cially when  they  were  reasoning  with  the  same  class  of 
hearers  ;  and  we  cannot  help  remarking  that,  if  it  had  been 
his  special  vocation  to  preach  to  the  Jews,  Paul,  as  is  clear 

*  So  we  understand  the  words  -d  vaia  Aa(5id  to.  TncTo.. 


ii6  Paul  the  Missionary. 

from  this  discourse,  would  have  shown  as  much  tact  and 
judgment  in  performing  that  duty  as  did  the  apostle  of  the 
circumcision  himself.  For  the  rest,  if  we  care  to  use  our 
reference  Bibles  with  diligence,  we  may  find  in  this  section 
of  his  address  the  outlines  of  some  of  those  arguments 
which  he  has  more  fully  elaborated  in  his  letters. 

But,  advancing  now  to  the  doctrinal  portion  of  this  ser- 
mon, we  come  upon  thoughts  which  are  distinctively  Pauline, 
and  which,  so  far  as  we  know,  were  here  unfolded  by  him 
for  the  first  time.  In  an  earlier  part  of  his  discourse  he 
had  grouped  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  under  the 
one  generic  word  ''salvation;"  but  as  he  narrows  in  toward 
his  conclusion  he  becomes  more  specific,  and  proclaims  to 
his  hearers  through  Christ  "the  forgiveness  of  sins."  This 
indeed  had  been  already  done  among  the  Jews,  almost  in 
the  same  terms,  on  many  occasions  by  Peter  ;  but  now  Paul 
proceeds  to  announce  that  doctrine  with  which  his  name 
will  be  forever  associated,  as  he  says  "  by  him,"  or  rather 
"in  him  all  that  believe  are  justified  from  all  things,  from 
which  ye  could  not  be  justified  by  the  law  of  Moses."  Thus 
even  at  this  early  date,  before  the  circumcision  controversy 
had  arisen,  w^e  discover  that  he  had  attained  to  those  views 
of  the  law  of  Moses  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  on  the  other,  which  he  has  so  admirably  expounded  and 
enforced  in  his  epistles  to  the  Galatians  and  to  the  Romans. 

The  importance  of  the  subject  itself,  and  its  bearing  on 
the  results  which  followed  the  delivery  of  this  discourse, 
make  it  imperative  that  we  should  dwell  at  somewhat  great- 
er length  upon  the  statement  which  he  makes. 

Here,  then,  is  a  new  term  introduced — "  all  that  believe 
are  justified f^  and  again,  "  ye  could  not  be  justified  by  the 
law  of  Moses."  What  meaning  must  we  assign  to  this 
word  ?  It  is  borrowed  from  the  courts  of  lav/,  and  refers  to 
the  issue  of  a  charge  brought  against  one  who  is  accused. 


The  First  Recorded  Sermon  of  Paul.  117 

As  the  result  of  a  trial,  such  a  one  is  either  justified  or  con- 
demned ;  that  is,  he  is  treated  either  as  an  innocent  man  or 
as  a  guilty  man.  Observe,  I  have  said  "  treated  "  as  inno- 
cent or  guilty.  He  may  be  really  guilty,  and  yet,  by  some 
means  or  other,  he  may  be  brought  in  not  guilty,  so  that  the 
law  discharges  him  as  having  nothing  against  him ;  or  he 
may  be  really  innocent,  yet  through  the  force  of  a  suspicious 
chain  of  circumstantial  evidence,  or  from  the  absence  of 
some  needed  exculpatory  testimony,  he  may  be  found  guilty, 
so  that  he  is  treated  as  a  malefactor.  The  sentence  of 
the  court  does  not  simply  in  and  of  itself  affect  the  man's 
moral  character.  It  only  declares  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  law  has,  or  has  not,  unsatisfied  claims  against  him. 
Thus,  then,  justification  is  the  declaring  that  an  accused 
person  is  right  before  the  law  f  and  when  we  speak  of  the 
justification  of  a  sinner  by  God,  we  mean  that  he  is  treated 
by  God  as  one  who  is  right  before  the  law,  and  on  whom, 
therefore,  the  law  has  no  claim  for  punishment.  It  is  more 
than  mere  forgiveness,  for  the  forgiven  one  is  in  some  sort 
dealt  with  as  a  sinner ;  but  the  justified  one  is  treated  as 
righteous.  Of  course,  in  the  case  of  every  sinner  so  justi- 
fied, there  is  also  a  change  of  heart  produced  by  the  pow- 
er of  the  Holy  Spirit,  so  that  these  two  things,  justification 
and  regeneration,  which  is  the  beginning  of  sanctification, 
always  go  together.  They  are,  in  fact,  as  inseparable  as 
light  and  heat  are  in  the  rays  of  the  sun ;  but  they  are  two 
things  notwithstanding,  and  it  is  essential  to  a  clear  appre- 
hension of  both  that  they  be  held  as  distinct. 

*  A  curious  illustration  of  an  old  forensic  use  of  the  word  is  furnished 
in  Walter  Scott's  "  Waverley,"  when  Evan  Maccombich  says  to  the  judge, 
pleading  for  his  master,  "  that  ony  six  o'  the  very  best  o'  his  clan  will  be 
willing  to  h^  justified  in  his  stead."  Here  the  term  means  "hanged;"  a 
criminal  being  held  to  be  set  right  with  the  law  when  he  had  suffered  its 
penalty.     See  "  Waverley  Novels,"  vol.  ii,,  p.  390. 


ii8  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Now,  taking  justification  to  mean  God's  treatment  of  the 
sinner  as  righteous,  the  question  arises,  on  what  ground  is 
the  sinner  so  treated  ?  This  is  answered  by  Paul  in  the 
words  before  us,  both  negatively  and  positively.  Negative- 
ly, he  says,  "Ye  could  not  be  justified  by  the  law  of  Moses." 
Here,  however,  it  is  needful  to  remove  a  slight  ambiguity  in 
the  English  version  of  the  sentence  in  which  these  words  oc- 
cur. Paul  does  not  mean  to  say,  as  a  hasty  reading  of  the 
verse  here  would  almost  lead  us  to  believe,  that  the  law  of 
Moses  could  give  justification  from  some  things,  but  not 
from  others,  and  that  from  these  others  they  could  find  re- 
lief alone  in  Christ.  The  order  of  the  words  in  the  orig- 
inal makes  it  evident  that  what  he  did  say  was  this  :  "  By 
him,  or  in  him,  every  one  that  believeth  is  justified  from  all 
things ;  an  effect  which  the  law  is  so  far  from  being  able 
to  produce  that  it  justifies  from  nothing."  This  is  a  truth 
which  in  the  most  impressive  and  unmistakable  terms  he 
has  repeated  over  and  over  again  in  his  epistles ;  and  never 
more  tersely  than  in  his  words  to  Peter,  as  reported  in  his 
letter  to  the  Galatians,  "  By  the  works  of  the  law  shall  no 
flesh  be  justified."* 

But  you  ask,  how  can  it  be  proved  that  justification  can- 
not come  from  the  law }  I  answer,  not  because  the  law  for 
its  own  purjDOses  was  not  valuable,  but  because  the  opera- 
tion of  law,  as  such,  can  never  be  anything  but  condemna- 
tory. As  one  has  very  clearly  put  it:  "If  the  law  has  not 
been  violated,  then  its  operation  is  null  and  void ;  but  in  no 
case  can  its  operation,  if  it  operates,  be  other  than  that  of 
death.  All  are  responsible  to  God  ;  none  have  discharged 
their  responsibilities ;  therefore  the  law  comes  in  as  an 
agent  of  death,  and  consequently  from  the  law,  as  law,  there 
can  be  no  hope  of  life."t     This  is  not  because  it  is  a  bad 

*  Gal.  ii.,  i6. 

t  "  The  Witness  of  Paul  to  Christ,"  by  Stanley  Leathes,  p.  82. 


The  First  Recorded  Sermon  of  Paul.  119 

law,  but  simply  because  it  is  a  law ;  for  it  is  matter  even  of 
our  own  common  experience  that  the  law  of  the  State  is 
never  called  into  operation  by  us  unless  it  be  to  punish  uz 
for  some  violation  of  it ;  or  to  condemn  those  who  have 
broken  it  by  injuring  us.  We  look  to  it  for  the  infliction  of 
its  penalty  upon  offenders.  It  does  not  operate  at  all  on 
those  who  keep  it ;  but  when  it  is  broken  then  its  arm  is 
uplifted  against  those  who  have  infringed  it.  This  is  the 
case  with  all  law,  whether  human  or  divine,  and  the  law 
given  by  Moses  was  no  exception.  That  law  found  men 
sinners,  and,  so  far  as  its  own  intrinsic  efficacy  was  concern- 
ed, it  left  them  sinners.  Nay,  its  emiohatic  enforcement  of. 
moral  rectitude  in  the  Ten  Commandments,  which,  though 
they  are  of  permanent  obligation,  were  yet  incorporated  in 
it,  only  made  their  guilt  more  manifest.  They  were  verily 
guilty,  and  therefore  the  operation  of  the  law,  so  far  from 
justifying,  condemned  them.*  But  if  all  law  in  general,  and 
the  law  of  Moses  in  particular,  could  not  justify  the  sinner, 
how  can  this  blessing  be  obtained  ?  The  apostle  replies  in 
the  positive  part  of  this  verse  thus  :  "  In  him  " — that  is,  in 
this  man,  this  Jesus — "  all  that  believe  are  justified  from  all 
things."  This  is  a  general  statement  which  we  are  sure  Paul 
would  amplify  for  the  instruction  of  his  hearers ;  and,  from 
the  reasoning  contained  in  his  epistles,  we  are  at  no  loss  to 
determine  the  method  which  he  would  pursue,  and  the  points 
which  he  would  establish.  Let  me  group  round  this  text  a 
few  passages  taken  almost  at  random  from  four  of  his  letters. 
To  the  Romans!  he  writes,  "  Being  justified  freely  by  his 
grace  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus;  whom 

*  Paul  does  not  enter  here  on  the  question,  "  Wherefore  then  serveth 
the  law  ?"  as  he  does  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  But,  to  prevent 
misapprehension,  we  refer  our  readers  to  that  passage  (Gal.  iii.,  19-29), 
that  they  may  see  its  educational  value. 

t  Rom.  iii.,  24-26 ;  v.,  18,  19. 

6 


I20  Paul  the  Missionary. 

God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith  in  his 
blood,  to  declare  his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins 
that  are  past,  through  the  forbearance  of  God  ;  to  declare,  I 
say,  at  this  time  his  righteousness :  that  he  might  be  just, 
and  the  justifier  of  him  which  believeth  in  Jesus."  And 
again :  "  As  by  the  offence  of  one  judgment  came  upon  all 
men  to  condemnation ;  even  so  by  the  righteousness  of  one 
the  free  gift  came  upon  all  men  unto  justification  of  life. 
For  as  by  one  man's  disobedience  many  were  made  sinners, 
so  by  the  obedience  of  one  shall  many  be  made  righteous." 
To  the  Corinthians*  he  speaks  of  Christ  as  "  who  of  God  is 
made  unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctification, 
and  redemption  :"  and  again  he  writes, "  He  hath  made  him 
to  be  sin  for  us  who  knew  no  sin ;  that  we  might  be  made 
the  righteousness  of  God  in  him."  So  also  to  the  Galatiansf 
he  affirms  that  "  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of 
the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us  :  for  it  is  written.  Cursed 
is  every  one  that  hangeth  on  a  tree :  that  the  blessing-  of 
Abraham  might  come  on  the  Gentiles  through  Jesus  Christ; 
that  we  might  receive  the  promise  of  the  Spirit  through 
faith."  Now,  from  these  quotations,  and  others  which  might 
be  abundantly  added  to  them,  the  following  things  seem  to 
me  very  plainly  deducible :  namely,  first,  that  God  was  willing 
to  deal  with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the  room  of  sinners ; 
second,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  was  equally  willing  to  be  reck- 
oned with  for  sinners ;  third,  that  in  so  reckoning,  with  the 
Lord  Jesus,  God  laid  upon  him  the  iniquities  of  us  all,  and 
treated  him  as  if  he  had  been,  what  he  really  was  not,  a  sin- 
ner; fourth,  that  this  reckoning  with  Christ  for  sinners  so 
honored  law  that  now  God  can,  consistently  with  the  recti- 
tude of  his  administration,  treat  sinners  as  if  they  were,  what 
they  really  are  not,  righteous ;  fifth,  that  in  order  to  a  sin- 

*  I  Cor.  i.,  30  ;  2  Cor.  v.,  21.  t  Gal.  iii.,  13,  14. 


The  First  Recorded  Sermon  of  Paul.  121 

ner's  being  so  treated,  he  must  be  "in  Christ;"  that  is,  iden- 
tified with  him  as  a  believer  in  him,  and  a  consenting  party 
to  his  acting  on  his  behalf ;  and  sixth,  that  the  justification 
thus  obtained  by  the  believer  in  Christ  is  complete  and 
from  "all  things."  It  would  be  quite  possible  to  make  a 
long  excursus  on  each  of  these  propositions,  but  I  do  not 
know  that  I. could  make  them  thereby  any  clearer  in  them- 
selves, or  any  more  apparently  the  legitimate  inferences  from 
the  passages  which  I  have  just  quoted,  than  the  simple  state- 
ment of  them  has  done.  I  leave  them,  therefore,  to  stand 
out  before  you  in  all  the  baldness  of  this  distinctness.  Un- 
ion to  the  law  secures  no  justification ;  union  to  Christ  se- 
cures justification  from  all  things  ;  and  that  union  to  Christ 
is  itself  secured  by  believing  in  him.  This  is  the  great  doc- 
trine which  Luther  called  "  the  article  of  a  standing  or  a 
falling  church."  It  is  the  keystone  of  the  arch  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith.  May  God  help  us  both  to  understand  its  mean- 
ing and  to  make  a  right  estimate  of  its  importance ! 

After  having  presented  to  his  hearers  this  great  and  fun- 
damental principle  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  Paul  concluded 
his  discourse  with  a  practical  exhortation,  which  took  the 
form  of  earnest  warning.  Perhaps  he  had  seen  on  some 
faces  an  expression  of  cynicism  or  contempt,  as  if  his  words 
were  regarded  as  too  absurd  to  be  worth  any  further  at- 
tention; so,  recalling  the  doom  which  had  fallen  from  the 
lips  of  the  Lord  himself  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem, 
because  they  had  not  recognized  their  "  day,"  and  had  re- 
jected him,  he  solemnly  set  before  them  the  danger  which 
they  incurred  by  depising  the  message  which  he  brought. 
His  warning  was  all  the  more  effective  because  it  was  given 
in  the  shape  of  a  quotation  from  an  oracle  of  Habakkuk, 
which,  as  originally  uttered,  was  a  merciful  but,  alas  !  also  a 
fruitless  admonition  that  Jerusalem  would  be  destroyed  by 
the  Chaldeans  unless  its  people  returned  unto   the  Lord. 


122  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Nothing,  therefore,  could  well  have  been  more  appropriate 
than  its  application  to  the  still  more  dreadful  calamity  which 
was  even  then  impending  over  them  and  their  fellow-coun- 
trymen for  their  rejection  of  Christ.  *'  Beware,  therefore, 
lest  that  come  upon  you  which  is  spoken  of  in  the  proph- 
ets ;  behold,  ye  despisers,  and  wonder,  and  perish :  for  I 
work  a  work  in  your  days,  a  work  which  ye  shall  in  no  wise 
believe,  though  a  man  declare  it  unto  you." 

The  effects  produced  by  this  sermon  were  very  striking. 
In  the  English  version  it  is  made  to  appear  that  there  was 
a  difference  between  the  Jewish  and  Gentile  portions  of  the 
audience,  and  that  it  was  only  after  the  departure  of  the 
former  that  the  latter  ventured  to  request  that  he  should 
speak  to  them  on  the  same  subject  on  the  following  Sab- 
bath. But  the  best  Greek  manuscripts  read  simply,  "i\.s 
they  were  going  out  of  the  synagogue  they  besought  him ;" 
and  that  harmonizes  with  the  statement  made  immediately 
afterward  that  many  of  the  Jews  and  religious  proselytes 
followed  Paul  and  Barnabas,  who,  touched  by  their  eager- 
ness, "persuaded  them  to  continue  in  the  grace  of  God;" 
that  is,  to  remain  in  the  belief  that  salvation  is  of  grace,  and 
not  by  the  law. 

It  is  not  without  a  certain  suggestive  interest  that  we  read 
the  account  of  the  breaking  up  of  this  congregation.  There 
had  been  great  attention  to  the  preacher ;  and  his  earnest- 
ness had  stimulated  them  all — some,  perhaps,  to  animosity, 
hut  the  larger  number  to  inquiry.  Nobody  had  remained 
indifferent;  and  now,  as  they  move  out  into  the  street,  in- 
stead of  remarking  on  the  dress  of  their  fellow-worshippers, 
or  criticising  the  accents  and  manner  and  awkwardness  of 
the  preacher,  or  commenting  on  the  character  of  his  style 
and  the  quality  of  his  illustrations,  they  are  all  full  of  the 
subject  which  he  had  set  before  them.  Much  of  this,  no 
doubt,  was   due  to  the  concentration  of  purpose  in   Paul, 


The  First  Recorded  Sermon  of  Paul.  123 

which  held  him  to  the  presentation  of  one  great  theme,  and 
enabled  him  to  keep  himself  in  the  background.  Much  of 
it  is  to  be  traced  also  to  the  startling  novelty  of  the  doc- 
trine which  he  advanced ;  but  still,  not  a  little  of  it  is  to 
be  attributed  to  the  spirit  of  the  hearers  themselves.  And 
if  it  be  desirable,  as  it  unquestionably  is,  that  ministers  in 
these  days  should  imitate  Paul  alike  in  their  choice  of  sub- 
jects and  in  their  mode  of  handling  them,  it  is  no  less  to  be 
wished  for  that  our  modern  hearers  should  listen  with  atten- 
tion and  with  candor;  and,  as  they  retire  from  the  sanctuary, 
should  engage  their  minds  with  the  truths  which  have  been 
set  before  them,  rather  than  with  the  idiosyncrasies  of  the 
preacher,  the  characteristics  of  the  audience  as  a  whole,  or 
the  mere  externals  of  music  or  of  ritual.  It  is  a  healthy 
sign  of  a  congregation  when,  as  its  members  are  leaving  the 
house  of  God,  there  are  marks  of  thoughtful  earnestness 
upon  their  faces,  and  there  is  a  desire  in  their  hearts  to  hear 
yet  more  concerning  the  matters  that  have  been  submitted 
to  them  by  their  teacher. 

In  the  case  before  us,  some  of  the  more  eager  followed 
Paul  and  Barnabas  to  their  homes,  and  obtained  from  them 
a  promise  to  preach  the  same  things  on  the  next  Sabbath. 
When  that  day  came  the  synagogue  was  crowded  with  hear- 
ers— "Almost  the  whole  city  came  to  hear  the  word  of  God." 
The  large  proportion  of  the  assembly  were  Gentiles,  and 
the  very  sight  of  them  within  their  place  of  meeting  so  filled 
the  Jews  with  envy  that  they  vehemently  interrupted  Paul 
by  contradictions  and  evil  accusations.  This,  however,  only 
intensified  the  boldness  of  the  missionaries,  who  forthwith 
deliberately  turned  to  the  Gentiles,  and  devoted  the  remain- 
der of  their  labors  to  them,  justifying  themselves  by  this  dec- 
laration to  the  Jews, "  It  was  necessary  that  the  word  of  God 
should  first  have  been  spoken  to  you ;  but  seeing  ye  put  it 
from  you,  and  judge  yourselves  unworthy  of  everlasting  life, 


124  Paul  the  Missionary. 

lo,we  turn  to  the  Gentiles  !  For  so  hath  the  Lord  command- 
ed us,  saying,  I  have  set  thee  to  be  a  light  of  the  Gentiles, 
that  thou  shouldest  be  for  salvation  unto  the  ends  of  the 
earth."  This  announcement  very  naturally  gladdened  the 
Gentiles,  many  of  whom  glorified  the  word  of  the  Lord  and 
believed.  But  just  as  naturally  it  exasperated  the  Jews,  who 
stirred  up  the  proselytes,  who  were  of  high  social  position  in 
the  city,  and  raised  a  persecution  against  the  preachers  so 
formidable  in  its  character  that  they  departed  from  the  city 
and  went  forth  to  Iconium,  not  at  all  disheartened,  but  "  fill- 
ed with  joy  and  with  the  Holy  Ghost." 

Throughout  the  discourse  of  this  evening  we  have  been 
engaged  almost  exclusively  with  doctrinal  matters ;  and 
now  I  will  detain  you  but  a  few  moments  longer  while  I 
seek  to  give  emphasis  to  one  or  two  practical  inferences 
from  the  narrative  portion  of  our  theme. 

We  have  here,  then,  in  the  first  place,  a  fresh  illustration 
of  the  effect  which  invariably  follows  the  faithful  preaching 
of  the  Gospel.  ''  Some  believed,  and  some  believed  not." 
It  has  always  been  so.  The  messenger  of  Christ  is  to  some 
the  savor  of  life  unto  life,  and  to  others  the  savor  of  death 
unto  death.  His  comfort  is  that  his  fidelity  is  always  well 
pleasing  unto  God.  But  what  shall  be  said  of  those  who 
reject  the  word  of  salvation  which  he  proclaims  ?  They 
cannot  be  precisely  as  they  were  before  they  heard  his 
message.  When  the  offer  of  everlasting  life  has  been  once 
made  to  a  man,  his  whole  standing  before  God  is  altered. 
Formerly  he  was  a  sinner  under  condemnation.  If  he  ac- 
cept the  glad  tidings,  and  believe  on  him  of  whom  they  tell, 
then  he  is  forgiven  and  renewed ;  but  if  he  refuse  to  receive 
the  Gospel,  then  he  adds  to  all  his  other  unforgiven  iniqui- 
ties this  one  more,  that  he  has  despised  the  grace  of  God. 
Nay  more,  he  has,  by  his  resistance  to  the  truth,  made  his 
heart  less  sensitive  than  it  was  before ;  so  that,  if  the  offer 


The  First  Recorded  Sermon  of  Paul.  125 

of  salvation  should  be  repeated  to  him,  he  is  in  a  worse  po- 
sition for  receiving  it  than  he  was  at  first.  There  are  thus 
few  things  more  hardening  in  their  influence  than  the  con- 
tinued enjoyment  of  a  faithful  ministry,  while  the  Gospel 
itself  is  rejected  by  the  hearer.  The  habit  of  resistance 
is  strengthened,  and  the  man  becomes  accustomed  to  that 
which  at  the  first  deeply  moved  him ;  so  that  at  length  it 
seems  to  him  "  like  a  tale  told  by  an  idiot,  full  of  sound  and 
fury,  signifying  nothing."  Then  comes  the  limit  of  God's 
forbearance.  The  man  hath  "judged  himself  unworthy  of 
eternal  life."  The  Lord  turns  to  others,  and  leaves  him  to 
the  destiny  he  has  deserved.  Let  us  beware,  friends,  lest 
we  should  repeat  the  folly  of  these  Jews  in  Antioch ;  for  in 
our  modern  times,  though  we  may  not  think  it,  the  regular 
attendants  upon  ordinances  are  those  who  are  in  greatest 
danger  of  falling  after  the  same  example  of  unbelief.  The 
Gospel  is  to  us  now  very  much  what  the  law  of  Moses  was 
to  them.  We  have  been  accustomed  to  it  all  our  days,  until 
we  have  come  to  take  it  for  granted  that  there  is  no  fear  of 
us,  just  because  we  have  had  such  privileges,  and  altogether 
irrespective  of  the  question  whether  or  not  we  have  accept- 
ed Christ.  Others  who  are  hearing  it  for  the  first  time  are 
pressing  into  the  kingdom  on  every  hand,  but  we  are  prone 
to  be  content  with  hearing  only ;  not  thinking  that  hearing 
without  doing  is  the  very  way  to  make  our  hearts  at  length 
impenetrable.  Unwarned  by  the  history  of  God's  ancient 
people,  we  are,  I  fear,  in  danger  of  reproducing  their  guilt, 
and  reprovoking  their  doom.  We  are  busily  discussing  the 
question,  "Are  there  few  that  be  saved  ?"  and  forgetting  that 
we  must  ourselves  "strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate"  while 
it  remains  open  for  our  admission.  We  are  arguing  and  re- 
arguing about  the  possibility  of  a  heathen's  being  saved  with- 
out the  Gospel,  and  neglecting  to  secure  our  own  salva- 
tion through  it.     We  are  deeply  interested  in  matters  which 


126  Paul  the  Missionary. 

are  to  us  as  unimportant  as  the  mint  and  cummin  of  the 
Pharisaic  tithe ;  and  when  the  preacher  sets  before  us  this 
great  truth  of  salvation  by  free  grace,  and  calls  it  justifica- 
tion by  faith,  we  style  it  dogma,  and  say  that  we  have  out- 
grown all  that,  and  that  we  do  not  want  doctrine,  but  life. 
But  these  same  manifestations  in  the  Jews  were  the  precur- 
sors of  their  rejection  by  God  :  and  in  yielding  to  such  in- 
fluences we  are  courting  our  own  destruction.  There  is  no 
value  in  that  doctrine  that  does  not  issue  in  life.  That  we 
shall  never  deny :  but  there  is  no  life  of  any  value  save  in 
union  with  doctrine  ;  and  now  is  the  time  to  give  emphasis 
to  that  truth.  The  whole  religious  life — I  had  almost  said, 
also,  the  whole  political  life — of  the  last  three  hundred  years, 
in  Europe  and  America,  is  the  outgrowth  of  Luther's  preach- 
ing of  this  old  doctrine  ;  and  if  we  reject  it  or  despise  it,  we 
are  doing  our  best  to  cast  reproach  on  him,  and  to  bring 
back  the  system  from  which  he  emancipated  us.  Nay  more, 
we  are  doing  despite  to  Christ ;  and  we  are  flinging  con- 
tempt upon  the  grace  of  God.  And  shall  not  God  punish 
for  these  things  ?  Truly  it  will  be  more  tolerable  for  Tyre 
and  Sidon  and  Jerusalem  in  the  day  of  judgment  than  for 
us,  if  we,  with  our  privileges  and  light,  shut  our  hearts 
against  Jesus  and  his  love,  and  ridicule  the  doctrine  of  his 
grace. 

We  have  here,  finally,  an  illustration  of  the  triumph  of  the 
Gospel  in  the  face  of  persecution.  The  Jews  expelled  Paul 
and  Barnabas  from  their  city,  but  they  could  not  uproot  the 
good  seed  which  they  had  sown  ;  and  so  we  read  that  "  The 
word  of  the  Lord  was  published  throughout  all  that  region." 
The  very  enmity  of  their  opponents  made  the  wind  that  waft- 
ed the  message  of  the  apostles  to  the  neighboring  localities; 
and  so  their  malice  outwitted  itself.  But  it  is  ever  thus : 
God  maketh  the  very  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him.  The 
burning  of  Tyndale's  Testaments  at  the  cross  of  St.  Paul's, 


The  First  Recorded  Sermon  of  Paul.  127 

by  order  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  gave  the  exiled  translator 
the  means  of  carrying  on  his  work  with  still  greater  vigor; 
and  next  to  the  faithful  labors  of  its  own  adherents,  the  Gos- 
pel has  been  most  indebted  for  its  progress  to  the  blind  an- 
tagonism of  its  adversaries.  "  Truth,  like  a  torch,  the  more 
it's  shook,  it  shines ;"  and  the  very  fierceness  of  the  storm 
only  carries  the  arrowy  seed  on  its  downy  wings  to  a  kindlier 
and  more  fertile  soil.  After  a  revival,  the  next  best  thing 
for  the  progress  of  God's  truth  is  a  persecution.  Are  not 
these  United  States  themselves  a  witness  to  the  truth  of  my 
words  ?  Was  not  the  religious  intolerance  of  the  ruling  pow- 
ers in  the  Old  Country  the  occasion  of  the  founding  of  the 
New  ?  Thus  even  persecution  and  injustice  have  unwitting- 
ly done  the  work  of  God ;  and,  over  and  over  again  in  his- 
tory, the  crucified  one  has  risen  from  the  grave  to  new  and 
nobler  life.  The  Atlantic  mariner,  any  day,  would  sooner 
have  a  storm  than  a  fog;  and  better  far,  in  my  judgment, 
than  the  misty  vagueness  of  much  of  our  modern  theology 
would  be  the  antagonism  that  should  compel  us  to  define 
what  we  mean,  and  reveal  to  us  the  dangers  that  may  be  just 
ahead,  but  are  now  enshrouded  in  the  dull,  damp  vapor.  A 
little  antagonism  now  and  then,  depend  upon  it,'  is  good  not 
only  for  the  conservation,  but  also  for  the  diffusion  of  the 
truth;  and  when  it  comes,  if  it  should  come,  let  us  not  be 
dismayed. 

6* 


VII. 

ICONIUM,  LYSTRA,  DERBE. 

Acts  xiv.,  1-20. 

FROM  Antioch  in  Pisidia,  Paul  and  Barnabas  proceed- 
ed eastward  over  the  barren  uplands  of  that  region, 
and  after  a  journey  of  some  sixty  miles*  they  arrived  at 
Iconium.  This  city,  now  known  as  Konieh,  lies  in  a  spa- 
cious valley  near  the  foot  of  Mount  Taurus.  Toward  the 
east  the  plain  stretches  away  to  the  horizon ;  but  behind 
the  city,  on  the  west,  it  is  hemmed  in  by  a  semicircle  of 
snow-capped  hills,t  and  in  the  centre  there  is  a  spacious 
lake,  which  adds  to  the  beauty  and  fertility  of  the  district. 
By  some  ancient  writers  Iconium  is  spoken  of  as  connected 
with  Phrygia,  and  by  others  it  is  ascribed  to  Lycaonia ;  but 
Lewin  has  made  it  abundantly  clear  that,  from  the  time  of 
Augustus  till  that  of  Pliny,  it  formed  the  capital  of  a  dis- 
tinct tetrarchy,  which  was  composed  of  fourteen  townships 
carved  out  of  Lycaonia,  where  it  borders  on  Galatia.1:  It 
lay  on  the  route  between  the  Syrian  Antioch  and  Ephesus ; 
and  that  fact  may  help  to  account  somewhat  for  its  impor- 
tance. In  later  history  it  became  famous  as  the  capital  of 
the  sultans  of  the  Seljukan  Turks,  and  it  is  rich  in  remains 
of  Moslem  architecture ;  but  it  has  fev/  relics  of  Greek  or 

*  Lewin,  vol.  i.,  p.  145  ;  but  Kitto,  "  Bible  Illustrations,"  vol.  viii.,  p. 
312,  calls  it  ninety-three  miles. 

t  See  Alexander's  "  Kitto's  Cyclopaedia,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  359. 
X  Lewin,  vol.  i.,  p.  145. 


IcoNiuM,  Lystra,  Derbe.  129 

Roman  workmanship,  save  some  inscribed  stones  and  frag- 
ments of  sculpture  which  have  been  built  into  the  walls. 
Its  population  to-day  is  estimated  at  thirty  thousand,  and 
carpets,  cotton,  hides,  and  leather  represent  its  manufactures 
and  products.  In  the  times  of  the  apostles  its  residents 
would  be  composed  of  the  representatives  of  the  original 
inhabitants  of  the  district;  a  number  of  Greeks  lounging 
through  the  market-place  looking  for  news,  and  ready  for 
every  sort  of  amusement ;  a  few  imperial  officials,  cold  and 
stately  in  their  pride ;  and  a  colony  of  industrious,  mone}^- 
loving,  and  money-making  Jews. 

These  last  had' a  synagogue,  in  which  on  Sabbath-days 
they  gathered  for  worship ;  and  in  that  sanctuary  Paul  and 
Barnabas  made  their  first  public  appearance  in  the  city.  It 
was  unhappily  too  true  that,  wherever  they  had  gone,  their 
kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh  had  become  their  persecu- 
tors;  yet  their  hearts  yearned  for  their  conversion,  and 
even  if  they  had  not  been  commanded  to  preach  the  Gospel 
to  the  Jew  first,  their  own  impulse  would  still  have  been  to 
commence  their  labors  among  their  Hebrew  brethren.  In 
the  present  case  their  efforts  were  not  wholly  fruitless ;  for 
"  They  so  spake  that  a  great  multitude  both  of  the  Jews  and 
also  of  the  Greeks  believed."  These  Greeks  were  doubtless 
proselytes  to  the  faith  of  Israel  from  among  the  Gentile 
population  of  the  city,  who  here,  as  in  Antioch,  were  among 
the  readiest  to  receive  the  Gospel  which  the  missionaries 
proclaimed. 

The  conversion  of  so  many  of  their  hearers  was  due  to 
the  agency  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  all  conversions  are ;  yet 
we  must  not  overlook  the  close  connection  which  the  in- 
spired historian  has  here  established  between  the  method 
which  the  preachers  followed,  and  the  effects  which  result- 
ed from  their  labors.  "  They  so  spake  that  multitudes  be- 
lieved."    The   adaptation  of  the   instrumentality  is,  in   its 


130  "     Paul  the  Missioxary. 

own  place,  as  important  as  the  etncacy  of  die  ao^ency.  The 
temper  and  edge  of  the  blade  have  something  to  do  with  the 
dealing  of  the  deadly  stroke,  as  really  as  the  strength  of  the 
warrior's  arm  has  its  function  and  office  in  the  production 
of  the  same  effecL  It  is,  therefore,  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  the  st)le  and  method  of  the  preacher  are  of  no  impor- 
tance, if  only  he  speak  with  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
The  truth  rather  is.  that  the  Divine  Spirit  will  indicate  his 
presence  and  agency  by  setting  the  preacher  to  seek  out 
acceptable  words  which  shall  be  suited  to  the  character,  in- 
telligence, and  circumstances  of  his  hearers.  Some,  indeed, 
would  ridicule  all  careful  premeditation  on  the  part  of  the 
minister,  and  encourage  him  to  rely  entirely  on  the  help  of 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  but  such  a  course,  far  from  putting  honor 
on  the  Spirit,  is  in  reality-  to  mock  him  as  thoroughly  as  they 
mock  God  who  pray  to  him  for  daily  bread,  and  then  ex- 
p)ect  him  to  give  them  food  altogether  irrespective  of  their 
own  exertions.  \\'e  need  do  no  more  than  examine  the  dis- 
courses of  Paul  himself  to  perceive  how  admirably  he  al- 
ways spoke  to  the  occasion,  \-ar}-ing  his  method  with  the  ca- 
pacity and  position  of  his  audience  ;  and  he  who  most  close- 
ly follows  that  example,  even  though  it  may  demand  of  him 
the  deepest  study  of  human  nature,  of  general  literature,  and 
of  the  Word  of  God,  will,  in  the  end,  be,  by  the  blessing  of  the 
Spirit,  the  most  successful  in  winning  souls  for  Christ. 

In  the  narrative  which  Luke  has  given  us,  we  have  no  re- 
port of  the  sermons  delivered  by  Paul  and  his  companion  at 
Iconium  ;  but  we  may  be  sure  that  their  great  theme  would 
be  the  person  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ,  viewed  in  connec- 
tion with  0-i  Tesrament  types  and  prophecy,  and  regard- 
ed as  the  ..::/::  ::  eternal  salvation  to  all  that  obey  him. 
They  woii...  ir  ..-:  .h  the  Jews  out  of  their  own  Script- 
ures ;  they  would  assert  the  fact  that  Christ  had  risen  from 
the  dead,  establishinsr  that  with  credible  evidence,  and  draw- 


IcoNiUM,  Lystra,  Deree,  131 

ing  from  it  those  inferences  for  docrnrie  ar.d  for  life  whick 
we  find  in  the  epistles  which  were  wnrten  at  a  later  day; 
they  would  set  forth  Christ  before  the  eyes  of  their  hearers 
as  e\'idently  crucified  among  them ;  and  then,  haWng  dwelt 
on  the  reality  of  his  death,  they  would  ascend  to  the  climax 
of  highest  assurance  by  a  path  like  that  in  the  familiar 
words :  "It  is  Christ  that  died,  yea  rather,  that  is  risen  again, 
who  is  ever  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  who  also  maketh  in- 
tercession for  us."  All  these  things  they  would  speak  of  not 
as  mere  matters  of  historical  curiosit}-.  or  of  vague  specula- 
tion, but  as  subjects  in  which  both  they  and  their  hearers 
had  a  direct,  immediate,  and  eternal  interest;  and  therefore 
we  cannot  wonder  that  the  effects  were  so  marked. 

But  the  very  things  which  produced  strong  conviction  in 
some  awakened  bitter  antagonism  in  others.  Your  "inno- 
cent preachers,"  as  one  calls  them,  who  deal  in  pointless 
platitudes,  evoke  neither  attachment  nor  opposition;  but 
the  earnest  man  always  stimulates  others  to  earnestness, 
either  of  agreement  or  of  enmity.  Never  yet  has  a  great 
work  been  done  for  Jesus  without  the  provocation  of  many 
adversaries ;  and  when  we  read  that  multitudes  believed, 
we  are  quite  prepared  to  find  that  "  The  unbelieving  Jews 
stirred  up  the  Gentiles,  and  made  their  minds  evil  affected 
against  the  brethren."  This  was  a  different  thing  from 
open  \*iolence,  though  ultimately  it  would  appear  that  these 
unscrupulous  assailants  were  prepared  even  for  that.  At 
first,  however,  they  contented  themselves  with  prejudicing 
the  minds  of  their  Gentile  fellow-citizens  against  the  mis- 
sionaries, and  it  may  be,  as  Hackett*  suggests,  that  they  did- 
so  by  insinuating  that  the  preachers  were  dangerous  men — 
as  disloyal  to  the  empire,  because  they  spoke  cf  Tesus  as 

*  "  Commentary  on  Original  Text  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apcsries,"  by 
Horatio  B.  Hackett,  D.D.,  p.  227. 


132  Paul  the  Missionary. 

their  king.  But  whatever  may  have  been  the  means  which 
these  adversaries  used,  the  fact  that  the  characters  of  Paul 
and  Barnabas  were  attacked,  determined  them  to  remain 
and  live  down  all  aspersions  by  their  conduct.  If  they  had 
been  assailed  at  once  with  persecution,  they  would  no  doubt 
have  left  Iconium  immediately ;  but  when  unjust  suspicions 
regarding  them  were  industriously  fostered  by  their  enemies, 
they  resolved  to  face  them  out,  and  prove  them  false.  They 
would  allow  no  one  to  say  that  they  fled  from  investiga- 
tion, and  so  pleaded  guilty  to  the  charges  which  were  made 
against  them.  Rather  they  became  more  bold  as  their  an- 
tagonists became  more  bitter;  and  the  course  which  they 
followed  had  the  approval  of  the  Lord,  for  he  gave  "  testi- 
mony unto  the  word  of  his  grace,  and  granted  signs  and 
wonders  to  be  done  by  their  hands." 

This  last  expression  is  noteworthy  as  serving  to  confirm 
the  view  which  I  have  already  advanced,*  to  the  effect  that 
the  power  of  working  miracles  was  not  possessed  by  the 
apostles  as  a  constant  and  abiding  thing  which  they  could 
exert  at  their  own  discretion — just  as  one  uses  the  muscular 
force  of  his  arms — but  was  exercised  by  them  only  at  the 
suggestion  of  their  Lord,  and  when  he  saw  that  supernatural 
works  would  be  of  service  either  in  proving  the  divine  au- 
thority of  their  message,  or  in  illustrating  the  nature  of  the 
great  salvation  which  it  was  their  business  to  proclaim.  But 
even  when  wrought  thus  at  the  command  and  under  the 
discretion  of  the  Lord,  the  miracles  which  were  full  of  com- 
fort to  those  who  had  accepted  the  Gospel,  were  both  irri- 
tating and  hardening  in  their  influence  on  those  who  reject- 
ed it.  Just  as  the  mighty  works  of  Moses,  which  gave  the 
promise  and  the  hope  of  emancipation  to  the  enslaved  Is- 
raelites only  stiffened  Pharaoh  into  a  more  defiant  obstina- 

*  See  ante,  pp.  99-101. 


IcoNiUM,  Lystra,  Derbe.  133 

cy,  or  as  the  raising  of  Lazarus  from  the  dead  by  Jesus, 
which  drew  his  friends  more  closely  round  him,  only  inten- 
sified the  hatred  of  the  Jewish  rulers,  and  hastened  the  crisis 
of  the  crucifixion,  so  in  the  instance  before  us  the  confirma- 
tion of  Paul's  preaching  by  signs  and  wonders  polarized  the 
two  parties  which  had  begun  to  form  themselves,  and  accel- 
erated the  conflict  that  was  inevitable  between  them.  The 
preaching  of  the  missionaries  became  the  talk  of  the  city, 
so  that  the  inhabitants  felt  compelled  to  take  sides ;  and  if 
we  may  judge  from  the  fact  that  those  antagonistic  to  Paul 
and  Barnabas  could  not  venture  to  make  an  open  attack 
upon  them,  but  had  to  resort  to  conspiracy,  v/e  may  conclude 
that  the  two  opposing  companies  were  nearly  evenly  bal- 
anced. But  it  was  no  part  of  the  apostles'  work  to  foster 
animosity  between  man  and  man,  and  therefore,  when  they 
learned  that  there  was  a  purpose*  formed  by  the  Gentile 
proselytes  and  the  Jews  to  stone  them,  they  withdrew  from 
Iconium,  and- went  across  a  bleak  and  exposed  country  to 
"  Lystra  and  Derbe,  cities  of  Lycaonia,  and  unto  the  region 
that  lieth  round  about :  and  there  they  preached  the  Gos- 
pel." 

The  boundaries  of  Lycaonia  were  so  different  at  different 
times  that  it  is  now  impossible  to  define  them  accurately ; 
but  in  general  we  may  say  that  it  had  Cappadocia  on  the 
east,  Galatia  on  the  north,  Pisidia  on  the  west,  and  Cilicia 
on  the  south. t  The  country  is  a  table  -  land,  the  soil  of 
which  is  impregnated  with  salt,  and  there  are  several  salt 
lakes  in  the  district.  The  population,  described  by  Plump- 
tret  as  "half  shepherds  and  half  robbers,"  were  rude  and 
impulsive.      They   could  understand  the   Greek   language 

*  The  term  opyu?)  in  this  passage  must  be  explained  of  the  mind,  as  a 
purpose  or  determination. 

t  Fairbairn's  "  Imperial  Bible  Dictionary,"  art.  Lycaonia. 
t  "  St.  Paul  in  Asia  Minor,"  by  Dr.  Plumptre,  p.  143. 


134  Paul  the  Missionary. 

when  it  was  addressed  to  them ;  but  they  spoke  to  each 
other  in  a  dialect  of  their  own,  which  was  not  intelligible  to 
strangers.  They  resembled  those  who  lived  ninety  or  a 
hundred  years  ago  in  the  remoter  parts  of  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland,  and  were  strong  in  physical  frame,  harsh  and  gut- 
tural in  speech,  not  over-particular  about  the  observance  of 
the  rights  of  property,  somewhat  superstitious  in  their  be- 
liefs, and  having  that  fervid  temperament  which  is  every- 
where characteristic  of  the  mountaineer.  The  sites  of  Lys- 
tra  and  Derbe  cannot  now  be  certainly  identified ;  but  it  is 
supposed  by  those  best  acquainted  with  the  region  that  they 
lay  not  far  from  the  base  of  a  remarkable  mountain  called 
Kara  Dagh,  or  the  Black  Mountain  f  and  probably  their 
ruins  may  be  among  those  now  called  Bin-bir-Kilisseh,  or 
the  thousand  and  one  churches.  This  part  of  Lycaonia  did 
not  belong  to  a  proconsular  province,  but  had  been  given 
by  Caligula  to  Antiochus,  King  of  Commagene;t  and  so 
our  two  missionaries  were  leaving  behind  them  the  imperial 
government,  and  the  protection  which  almost  everywhere 
else  a  Roman  citizen  received  from  the  State.  Here,  too, 
they  would  miss  the  fellowship  as  well  as  the  animosity  of 
Jews.  No  mention  is  made  of  a  synagogue  either  in  Lystra 
or  in  Derbe ;  and  the  fact  that  Lois  and  Eunice,  who  lived 
in  one  or  other  of  these  towns,  did  not  dare  to  bring  up 
the  ^-Dung  Timothy  as  one  outwardly  under  the  covenant  of 
Abraham,  is  an  incidental  corroboration  of  the  statement 
which  we  have  made.  So  now  for  the  first  time  the  Gospel 
comes  into  direct  and  immediate  contact  and  conflict  with 
heathenism.      And,  having   no    other   convenient  place   of 

*  A  parallel  to  this  name  may  be  found  in  Craig-dhu,  the  black  moun- 
tain near  Laggan,  Inverness  -  shire,  Scotland.  We  are  not  philologists 
enough  to  say  whether  there  is  any  other  connection  than  that  of  similar- 
ity between  the  two,  but  they  seem  to  us  to  have  common  radical  letters. 

t  Plumptre,  "  St.  Paul  in  Asia  Minor,"  p.  144. 


IcoNiuM,  Lystra,  Deree.  135 

meeting,  we  may  suppose  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  took  their 
station  in  the  market-place  or  on  the  street,  and  proclaimed 
the  glad  tidings  with  which  they  were  intrusted  to  the 
throng  of  listeners  that  gathered  round  them  as  they  spoke. 

On  one  such  occasion  there  was,  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
crowd,  a  poor  cripple,  lame  from  his  birth,  sitting,  perhaps, 
at  his  accustomed  begging -place,  but  forgetting  his  usual 
occupation  in  the  eager  interest  which  he  felt  in  the  speak- 
er's words.  It  may  be  that  at  the  moment  Paul  was  dwell- 
ing on  the  mighty  works  performed  by  Jesus  when  he  was 
upon  the  earth,  and  "  went  about  doing  good."  Perhaps  he 
was  describing  how  he  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind  and  the 
ears  of  the  deaf,  how  he  healed  the  sick,  and  made  the  lame 
to  walk,  and  raised  the  dead  to  life.  We  cannot  tell ;  but, 
whatever  he  was  saying,  his  words  so  thrilled  the  heart  of 
the  afflicted  man  that  his  whole  soul  stood  in. his  eyes  as  he 
gazed  upon  the  preacher.  In  this  unspoken  manner — illus- 
trating very  beautifully  the  meaning  of  that  "  looking  unto 
Jesus  "  of  which  we  so  often  hear — the  desire  of  the  man's 
heart  became  known  to  Paul,  who,  perceiving  through  the 
revelation  of  the  Spirit  that  he  had  faith  to  be  healed,  "  said 
with  a  loud  voice,  Stand  upright  on  thy  feet.  And  he  leaped 
and  walked." 

The  sight  of  this  cure  performed  in  a  moment,  on  one 
whom  they  knew  so  well,  produced  a  profound  impression 
on  the  spectators.  They  were  persuaded  that  no  collusion 
between  the  parties  was  possible.  They  could  not  doubt 
the  evidence  of  their  own  senses  ;  therefore  they  believed 
that  a  supernatural  work  had  been  performed.  But  that 
conviction,  grafting  itself  upon  their  heathen  notions,  pro- 
duced a  singular  result ;  for  they  at  once  exclaimed,  "  The 
gods  are  come  down  to  us  in  the  likeness  of  men,"  and  they 
identified  Barnabas,  as  having  the  more  imposing  presence, 
with  Jupiter,  and  Paul,  as  being  the  chief  speaker,  with  Mer- 


136  Paul  the  Missionary. 

cury.  It  thus  appears  that  the  effect  of  a  miracle  depends 
upon  the  degree  of  knowledge  possessed  by  the  beholder, 
as  well  as  upon  his  moral  disposition.  A  certain  amount 
of  intelligence  is  needed  before  one  can  rightly  interpret 
such  a  work  as  that  which  God,  at  the  word  of  Paul,  per- 
formed on  this  lame  man.  A  miracle  is  not  an  appeal  to 
ignorance,  but  to  knowledge ;  and  an  underlying  faith  of 
some  sort  is  presupposed  in  those  to  whom  it  is  addressed. 
As  Bacon  has  said,  "  God  never  wrought  miracles  to  con- 
vince atheism,  because  his  ordinary  works  convince  it."* 
They  presuppose  a  belief  in  the  personal  existence  of  God, 
as  proved,  or  at  least  attested,  by  his  works.  Therefore  the 
effect  of  a  miracle  on  an  atheist  will  be  nothing.  We  must 
begin  farther  back  with  him,  and  endeavor  to  bring  him  up 
through  the  intuitions  of  his  own  nature  to  the  admission  of 
that  truth  which  is  the  great  postulate  of  revelation,  namely, 
that  God  is.  But,  just  as  the  effect  of  a  miracle  on  an  athe- 
ist will  be  ;///,  so  its  influence  on  those  who  believe  in  gods 
many  and  lords  many  will  be  qualified  and  conditioned  by 
their  polytheism.  Therefore  we  must  look  for  the  expla- 
nation of  the  words  of  these  Lycaonians  to  the  kind  of  re- 
ligious belief  which  up  till  this  time  had  been  common 
among  them.  They  had  the  idea  that  the  gods,  who  were 
represented  by  their  idols,  sometimes  came  to  earth,  and 
dwelt  among  men  under  an  assumed  disguise.  This  be- 
lief is  frequently  expressed  by  classic  authors.  Thus  Ho- 
mer sings  of  the  gods  : 

"  They,  curious  oft  of  mortal  actions,  deign 
In  forms  like  these  to  roam  the  earth  and  main  ;" 

and  Ovid,  in  telling  a  mythological  story,  the  scene  of  which 
was  in  this  very  region  of  Lycaonia,  represents  Jupiter  as 

*  Bacon's  "Essays,  with  Annotations  by  Archbishop  Whately,"  p.  155. 


IcoNiUM,  Lystra,  Derbe.  137 

saying,  when  rumors   of  human  wickedness   had  reached 

him, 

"  I  will  descend,  said  I, 

In  hope  to  prove  the  loud  complaints  a  lie. 

Disguised  in  human  shape,  I  travelled  round 

The  world,  and  more  than  what  I  heard  I  found." 

In  Hke  manner  Jupiter  and  Mercury  were  often  associated ; 
and  there  is  a  legend  which  tells  that  these  two  deities 
visited  a  province  of  which  Lycaonia  was  one  of  the  dis- 
tricts : 

"Jove  with  Hermes  came,  but  in  disguise 
Of  mortal  men  concealed  their  deities."* 

Now,  with  such  opinions  deeply  rooted  among  them,  we  can 
see  that  it  was  not  wonderful  that  these  rude  people,  at  the 
sight  of  the  miracle,  did  not  ascend  to  the  perception  of  the 
unity  and  supremacy  of  God,  but  supposed  that  Paul  and 
Barnabas  were  the  visible  incarnations  of  Mercury  and  Ju- 
piter. And  when  they  had  adopted  that  conclusion,  it  was 
just  as  natural,  taking  the  stage  of  their  religious  devel- 
opment into  consideration,  that  they  should  call  upon  the 
priest  of  Jupiter  to  bring  forth  oxen  and  garlands,  fo'r  the 
purpose  of  offering  sacrifices  to  those  whom  they  regarded 
as  gods.  Indeed,  in  this  view  of  the  case,  their  conduct 
may  well  be  a  reproof  to  many  among  ourselves,  even  "  to 
those  who,  admitting  that  God  came  down  in  man's  nature, 
and  laid  aside  the  splendors  of  his  Godhead,  neglect  or  re- 
fuse to  render  to  him  the  homage  and  service  to  which  he 
is  entitled.  These  unsophisticated  heathens  acted  faithful- 
ly up  to  their  light ;  but  men  with  the  Bible  in  their  hands 
— the  great  portrait  in  which  is  God  incarnate — are  strange- 
ly indifferent  to  its  lessons  and  untrue  to  themselves.    That 

*  See  Lewin,  vol.  i.,  pp.  147,  148  ;  also  "  Paul  the  Preacher,"  by  John 
Eadie,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  p.  123. 


138  Paul  the  Missionary. 

priest  who  '  would  have  done  sacrifice  with  the  people '  is  a 
'swift  witness  '  against  such  inconsistency."* 

The  exclamation  of  the  people,  as  was  natural  in  their 
excitement,  was  made  in  their  vernacular  dialect,  which  Paul 
and  Barnabas  did  not  understand  ;  and  therefore  it  was  not 
until  they  saw  the  priest  making  preparations  to  offer  sacri- 
fice unto  them  that  they  fully  comprehended  the  situation ; 
but  so  soon  as  they  perceived  the  true  state  of  the  case,  they 
were  filled  with  horror.  They  felt,  as  Plumptret  has  very 
graphically  put  it,  very  much  as  Bishop  Patteson  might  have 
felt  if  he  had  seen  some  Milanesians  preparing  to  hold  a 
cannibal  feast  in  his  honor — and,  with  a  vehement  agitation 
which  showed  itself,  in  Oriental  fashion,  in  the  rending  of 
their  garments,  they  ran  in  among  the  people,  and  sought  to 
dissuade  them  from  the  fulfilment  of  their  purpose.  When 
quiet  was  so  far  restored  that  he  could  be  heard  and  under- 
stood, Paul  thus  addressed  the  crowd :  "  Men  of  Lycaonia, 
why  do  ye  these  things  ?  We  also  are  men  of  like  passions 
with  you,  and  preach  unto  you  that  ye  should  turn  from 
these  vanities  unto  the  living  God,  which  made  heaven,  and 
earth,  and  the  sea,  and  all  things  that  are  therein  :  who  in 
times  past  suffered  all  nations  to  walk  in  their  own  ways. 
Nevertheless  he  left  not  himself  without  witness,  in  that  he 
did  good,  and  gave  us  rain  from  heaven,  and  fruitful  sea- 
sons, filling  our  hearts  with  food  and  gladness." 

With  Jews  Paul  reasoned  out  of  the  Old  Testament,  for 
to  its  inspiration  and  authority  both  he  and  they  professed 
to  bow ;  but  with  heathens  he  began  farther  back,  and  took 
his  stand  on  those  intuitions,  or  first  truths,  which  form 
God's  earliest  revelation  to  the  human  mind,  and  which  are 
attested  and  confirmed  by  the  works  of  nature  and  of  prov- 


*  Eadie's  "Paul  the  Preacher,"  pp.  124,  125. 
t  "  St.  Paul  in  Asia  Minor."  p.  146. 


IcoNiUM,  Lystra,  Derbe.  139 

idence.  It  is  interesting,  too,  to  mark  how  in  this  address, 
struck  out  of  him  though  it  was  by  the  urgency  of  the  emer- 
gency that  was  upon  him,  we  have  the  very  same  thoughts 
which  he  has  expressed  in  more  elaborate  discourses  and 
epistles  —  a  fact  which  indicates  that  he  was  giving  utter- 
ance to  no  hasty  and  ill-digested  ideas,  but  rather  speaking 
of  things  on  which  he  had  often  and  profoundly  meditated. 
He  calls  the  gods  which  the  Lycaonians  worshipped  vain 
or  empty ;  and  in  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  he 
repeats  this  appellation  with  added  emphasis,  when  he  says, 
"  We  know  that  an  idol  is  nothing  in  the  world  f*  while, 
in  writing  to  the  Thessalonians,  he  uses  almost  the  precise 
words  which  he  has  here  employed,  reminding  them  how 
they  "  turned  to  God  from  idols  to  serve  the  living  and  true 
God."t  Again,  in  this  address  he  affirms  that  "  God  in 
past  generations  permitted  the  Gentiles  to  walk  in  their 
own  ways  ;"  and  we  find  that  thought  recurring  in  his  speech 
to  the  Athenians,  when  he  says,  "  The  times  of  this  ignorance 
God  winked  at,"$  or  rather  "took  no  notice  of;"  moreover, 
in  his  letter  to  the  Romans  the  same  idea  reappears,  when 
he  speaks  of  "  the  remission  of  sins  that  are  past  through," 
or  in  "  the  forbearance  of  God"§ — that  is,  of  sins  committed 
under  that  which  may  be  called  the  dispensation  of  God's 
forbearance.  Once  more,  when  he  says  to  these  excited 
idolaters  that  "God  left  not  himself "  without  a  witness" 
among  them,  we  are  vividly  reminded  of  his  argument  in  the 
opening  section  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  when  he  says, 
*'  The  invisible  things  of  him  from  the  creation  of  the  world 
are  clearly  seen,  being  understood  by  the  things  that  are 
made,  even  his  eternal  power  and  Godhead ;  so  that  they 
are  without  excuse." ||     Thus,  as  we  have  already  hinted, 


*  I  Cor.  viii.,  4.  t  i  Thess.  i.,  9.  \  Acts  xvii.,  30. 

§  Rom.  iii.,  25.  ||  Rom.  i.,  20. 


140  Paul  the  Missionary. 

the  opinions  and  arguments  here  employed  were  not  the 
extempore  utterances  of  one  who  gave  them  forth  without 
thinking  thoroughly  round  them;  but  they  were  the  mature 
expressions  of  views  with  which  he  had  been  long  familiar, 
and  which  the  years  of  his  ministry  only  chiselled  into  deep- 
er distinctness  as  they  passed. 

But,  leaving  now  these  interesting  coincidences  between 
this  brief  discourse  and  some  portions  of  his  epistles,  let  us 
look  at  the  points  specially  made  in  the  expostulation  ad- 
dressed to  these  rude  idolaters.  The  apostle  begins  by  dis- 
claiming all  right  to  be  worshipped.  He  says  of  himself 
and  Barnabas,  "  We  are  men.  We  have  the  same  flesh  and 
blood  and  passions  as  yourselves.  We  equally  with  you 
need  a  sacrifice  to  be  made  for  us ;  therefore,  be  not  guilty 
of  dishonoring  the  true  God  by  worshipping  us."  There 
was  thus  nothing  of  the  trimmer  or  the  temporizer  about 
Paul.  Many  w^ould  have  been  ready  to  say,  "  Let  them 
alone,  we  know  not  what  good  may  come  out  of  all  this  yet ; 
and  if  we  cross  their  wishes,  we  may  provoke  their  enmity." 
But  our  apostle  would  give  no  consideration  to  such  sugges- 
tions as  these.  He  could  not  permit  the  awful  enormity  of 
offering  sacrifice  to  him,  no  matter  what  might  be  the  result. 
How  different  his  demeanor  here  from  that  of  Herod,  when, 
as  the  multitude  shouted,  "  It  is  the  voice  of  a  god,  and  not- 
of  a  man,"  he  accepted  the  incense  of  their  flattery,  and 
thereby  drew  down  upon  himself  the  shrivelling  touch  of 
Jehovah's  hand  !  Ah,  would  that  all  those  who  are  deifying 
self  among  us,  and  not  only  accepting  sacrifices  from  others 
but  offering  oblations  to  themselves,  might  realize  the  mean- 
ing of  these  words :  ''  We  are  men  !"  The  dignity  of  man- 
hood might  well  keep  us  from  the  cringing  sycophancy  that 
worships  human  greatness  ;  while  the  weakness  and  depend- 
ence of  our  nature  ought  to  impel  us  to  bow  the  knee  to 
God. 


IcoNiUM,  Lystra,  Derbe.  141 

But  in  connection  with  his  disclaimer  of  worship,  Paul  as- 
serts that  there  is  one  "living  God,"  and  affirms  that  the  de- 
sign of  his  preaching  the  Gospel  was  to  turn  men  from  idola- 
try to  the  service  of  that  great  and  omnipotent  Jehovah.  It 
is  to  be  observed  that  the  apostle  does  not  attempt,  by  any 
process  of  argument,  to  prove  the  existence  and  personality 
of  God.  He  takes  his  stand  upon  the  intuitions  of  the  hu- 
man soul,  and  affirms  that  God  is  :  sure  of  finding  an  assent- 
ing response  in  the  heart  of  each  of  his  hearers ;  and  point- 
ing in  confirmation  of  his  words  to  the  physical  universe 
by  which  they  were  surrounded,  and  those  stated  operations 
of  nature  by  which  they  were  supported.  This  is  the  only 
true  philosophical  method.  The  works  of  Paley  and  oth- 
ers, which  bring  out  the  evidences  of  design  in  the  material 
world,  have  an  undoubted  and  almost  inestimable  value,  yet 
the  force  of  the  arguments  which  they  present  depends  on 
the  intuitive  principle  which  is  already  in  every  man's  soul, 
and  which  is  not  the  result  of  any  process  of  reasoning,  but 
rather  an  immediate  spiritual  instinct,  to  the  effect  that  there 
must  be  a  first  cause  of  all  things.  I  know,  indeed,  that  some 
modern  philosophers  of  the  positivist  school  attempt  to  stifle 
this  human  cry  after  the  living  God,  by  alleging  that  the  sci- 
entific man  must  deal  only  with  phenomena,  and  that  he  has 
•nothing  to  do  with  the  principle  of  causation ;  but  to  this 
the  reply  is  easy ;  for  though  it  may  be  true  that  as  scientific 
he  has  to  do  only  with  the  classification  of  appearances,  yet 
it  is  no  less  true  that  as  mail  he  cannot  help  pressing  on  to 
inquire  into  causation.  There  is  that  in  him  which  impels 
him  to  ask,  "  Who  made  all  these  .'*"  and  it  is  only  by  laying 
a  violent  arrest  upon  that  impulse  that  he  can  forbear  from 
seeking  for  an  answer.  Now  we  hold  that  the  mere  put- 
ting of  this  question  by  men  as  men,  everywhere  and  always, 
is  itself  a  proof  that  there  is  a  Creator.  There  is  something 
somewhere  that  attracts  the  needle,  else  it  would  not  keep 


142  Paul  the  Missionary. 

so  true  in  its  pointing  to  the  north;  and  there  must  be  some- 
where some  primary  and  efficient  personal  cause  of  all  the 
physical  phenomena  which  we  see,  else  the  souls  of  men  in 
all  ages  would  not  have  cried  so  constantly,  '•  Who  made  all 
these  ?"  Thus,  for  the  establishment  of  the  personality  of 
God,  we  appeal  not  to  the  Bible,  but  to  the  human  soul  it- 
self ;  and  the  philosophic  atheism,  which  is  attempting  once 
again  to  rear  its  head  among  us,  can  succeed  only  when  it 
has  smothered  the  irrepressible  instinct  of  humanity  itself. 

Associated  with  this  postulating  of  God's  existence  by 
Paul  here,  there  is  an  implied  assertion  also  of  his  unity ; 
and  the  apostle  affirms  that  one  great  reason  for  his  preach- 
ing the  Gospel  was  to  turn  men  to  him  from  the  worship  of 
such  vain  deities  as  those  whom  the  people  of  Lystra  served. 
God  had  now  revealed  himself  to  them  in  Christ,  and  there- 
fore he  would  have  them  bow  before  him.  Thus  he  seeks 
to  correct  the  false  by  the  teaching  of  the  true,  and  pre- 
vents them  from  sacrificing  to  him  and  Barnabas,  by  telling 
them  of  one  who  was  the  only  sin-offering  for  the  guilt  of 
men. 

Just  here,  however,  he  anticipates  the  objection,  "  Why 
did  God  not  reveal  himself  to  men  at  a  much  earlier  date  ?" 
and  replies  to  it  after  this  fashion  :  It  is  true  that  many 
centuries  had  been  allowed  to  pass  before  Christ  came  to 
make  God  known  to  the  human  race ;  but  that  was  all  in 
furtherance  of  one  great  design.  "  God  in  times  past  left 
all  nations  to  walk  in  their  own  ways."  He  made  no  mi- 
raculous interference  to  correct  their  errors.  He  left  them 
to  themselves  because  he  wished  to  demonstrate  their  ina- 
bility to  find  their  way  back  to  him  without  his  aid  ;  and  so, 
if  we  may  supplement  the  argument  of  the  apostle  here  by 
his  statement  elsewhere,*  it  was  only  "  after  that,  in  the 

*  I  Cor.  i.,  21. 


IcoNiuM,  Lystra,  Derbe.  143 

wisdom  of  God,  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God,"  that 
"  it  pleased  God,  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  "  of  Christ 
crucified, "  to  save  them  that  believe."  But  although  he  thus 
withheld  from  specially  interfering  with  the  course  of  things 
among  the  Gentile  nations,  it  does  not  follow  that  he  left 
himself  without  a  witness  among  them,  or  that  they  were  en- 
tirely excusable  for  their  iniquity.  They  will  not  have  the 
responsibility  of  those  to  whom  a  written  revelation  was 
made ;  but  in  the  arrangement  of  the  seasons,  in  the  gift  of 
the  rain,  and  in  the  general  conduct  of  that  which  we  now 
call  providence,  he  had  given  such  indications  of  his  exist- 
ence and  agency  as  might  have  sufficed  to  keep  alive  their 
faith  in  him  if  they  had  "  liked  to  retain  him  in  their  knowl- 
edge." Thus  Paul  knew  nothing  of  that  modern  idea  which 
would  make  all  things  evolve  themselves  from  a  primordial 
germ,  without  any  intelligent  supervision  of  a  presiding 
mind,  and  simply  by  the  force  of  an  inherent  energy,  into 
the  cause  of  which  it  is  no  part  of  philosophy  to  investigate. 
That  is  a  dark,  dreary,  and  unsatisfactory  creed,  foreign  to 
the  deepest  and  holiest  yearnings  of  the  heart  of  man,  and 
as  I  think  of  it  I  am  almost  disposed  to  join  Wordsworth 
in  his  passionate  outcry  : 

"  Great  God  !  I'd  rather  be 
A  pagan,  suckled  in  a  creed  outworn, 

So  might  I,  standing  on  this  pleasant  lea, 
Have  glimpses  that  would  make  me  less  forlorn, 
Have  sight  of  Proteus  coming  from  the  sea, 
.  Or  hear  old  Triton  blow  his  wreathed  horn." 

But  we  need  not  sigh  after  that  fashion.  What  we  require  is 
the  devout  Christian  faith  of  Paul,  who  saw  God's  hand  in 
all  things,  and  could  sing  with  the  Psalmist,  "  The  eyes  of  all 
wait  upon  thee  ;  and  thou  givest  them  their  meat  in  due 
season.  Thou  openest  thine  hand,  and  satisfiest  the  desire 
of  every  living  thing;"  adding  to  it  his  own  doxolog}'",  "Of 

7 


144  Paul  the  Missionary. 

him,  and  through  hnn,  and  to  him,  are  all  things  :  to  whom 
be  gloiy  forever.  Amen.'"^  With  such  a  faith,  science  be- 
comes one  of  the  most  interesting  side-chapels  in  the  great 
cathedral  of  religion ;  without  it,  science  is  for  me  deprived 
of  its  truest  greatness,  and  becomes  only  a  utilitarian  thing 
to  be  prosecuted  for  the  profit  which  it  brings. 

This  vehement  protest  of  Paul  prevented,  though  not 
without  some  difficulty,  the  intended  sacrifice  ;  and  not  long 
after  there  occurred  one  of  those  sudden  revulsions  of  feel- 
ing which  serve  to  show  how  foolish  it  is  to  put  confidence 
in  men.  Certain  Jews,  filled  with  malice,  followed  Paul  all 
the  way  from  Antioch  in  Pisidia  and  Iconium  to  Lystra,  and 
so  succeeded  in  stirring  up  the  populace  against  him,  that 
they  took  him  and  dragged  him  out  of  the  city  and  stoned 
him,  and  left  him  for  dead.  Unable  to  get  rid  of  the  fact 
that  a  miracle,  or  that  which  seemed  to  be  a  miracle,  had 
been  wrought  by  his  instrumentality,  they  probably  insinu- 
ated that  it  was  performed  by  him  through  some  coalition 
with  the  prince  of  darkness,  and  thus  the  superstition  which 
had  been  so  near  to  worshipping  him  was  stirred  up  to  at- 
tempt his  destruction.  In  the  great  mercy  of  God,  however, 
he  revived,  and  the  next  day  went  to  Derbe  with  Barnabas, 
who,  as  being  the  less  prominent  of  the  two,  seems  to  have 
been  almost  entirely  let  alone. 

We  cannot  close  our  historical  review  without  reminding 
you  that  Timothy,  then  a  youth  and  in  his  teens,  was  most 
probably  a  spectator  of  this  attempt  to  murder  Paul.  In  a 
subsequent  chapterf  we  learn  that  his  mother  was  already 
a  Christian  on  Paul's  third  visit  to  Lystra.  It  is  natural, 
therefore,  to  suppose  that  she  was  converted  on  his  first 
visit,  since  his  second!  was  made  not  so  much  to  the  city 
generally  as  to  the  believers  who  had  been  brought  to  Christ 

*  Psa.  cxlv.,  15, 16;  Rom.  xi.,  36.       t  Acts  xvi.,  i.       J  Acts  xiv.,  21. 


IcoNiuM,  Lystra,  Derbe.  145 

by  his  former  labors.  If  that  was  the  case,  then  the  young 
Thnothy  would  be  almost  certainly  present  at  this  crisis 
in  Paul's  career ;  and  this  view  is  apparently  confirmed  by 
the  fact  that,  in  his  second  letter  to  Timothy,*  Paul  says  to 
him,"  Thou  hast  fully  known  persecutions,  afflictions  which 
came  unto  me  at  Antioch,  at  Iconium,  at  Lystra ;  what  per- 
secutions I  endured  :  but  out  of  them  all  the  Lord  delivered 
me."  Thus,  as  the  great  apostle  was  in  a  measure  prepared 
for  his  future  trials  by  his  presence  at  the  martyrdom  of 
Stephen,  so  Timothy  first  learned  what  "  hardness  "  must  be 
"  endured  "  by  "  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ "  from  seeing 
Paul  stoned  at  Lystra. 

I  have  left  myself  but  little  time  for  practical  application 
to-night,  yet  I  cannot  let  you  go  without  giving  point  to  two 
inferences  from  this  whole  subject. 

We  may  learn,  then,  in  the  first  place,  that  if  the  heathen 
are  "  without  excuse,"  inasmuch  as  God  has  not  left  himself 
without  a  witness  among  them,  our  guilt  must  be  immensely 
greater  if,  with  the  Bible  in  our  hands,  we  reject  Christ  and 
his  salvation.  They  who  have  sinned  without  law  shall  be 
judged  also  without  law;  and  those  who  have  never  had 
the  Scriptures  will  not  be  condemned  for  disobeying  them. 
They  will  be  measured  by  the  standard  of  natural  religion, 
and  condemned  for  not  acting  up  to  the  light  they  had ;  but 
we  will  be  judged  by  the  standard  of  this  Book,  which  we 
have  had  in  our  hands  from  our  earliest  years,  and  with  the 
instructions  of  which  we  have  long  been  familiar.  It  is  an 
awful  thing  to  have  a  Bible.  Improved,  indeed,  it  will  be 
the  means  of  leading  us  to  glory ;  but  despised,  it  will  be 
the  millstone  round  our  neck  to  sink  us  deeper  in  perdi- 
tion. You  may  buy  a  New  Testament  at  the  Bible  House 
for  five  cents  ;  yet  it  may  be  to  you  at  last  the  most  costly 

*  2  Tim.  iii.,  11. 


146  Paul  the  Missionary. 

possession  you  ever  had ;  for  Michael  Bruce  was  right  when, 
shortly  before  his  death,  he  wrote  these  lines  in  the  fly-leaf 
of  his  copy  of  the  Scriptures  : 

"  'Tis  very  vain  in  me  to  boast, 
How  small  a  price  this  Bible  cost ; 
The  day  of  judgment  will  make  clear 
'Twas  very  cheap  or  very  dear." 

We  may  learn,  in  the  second  place,  the  emptiness  of  every 
idol.  Paul  called  Jupiter  and  Mercurius  "these  vanities;" 
but  if  he  were  living  now,  he  would  use  similar  words  about 
the  idols  which  are  daily  worshipped  in  New  York.  For 
everything  which  the  heart  prefers  to  God,  that  for  which  a 
man  lives,  and  in  which  he  finds  his  only  joy,  if  it  be  other 
than  God,  is  an  idol,  and  is  as  hollow  and  unreal  as  the  im- 
age before  which  the  heathen  bows.  Is  it  wealth  ?  That 
will  not  abide.  Is  it  honor?  That  is  deceitful  and  short- 
lived. Is  it  pleasure  ?  That  is  a  bubble  which  bursts  in  the 
hand  that  grasps  it.  Is  it  power  ?  That  is  a  mocker ;  for 
often  the  mightiest  have  been,  like  Samson,  in  the  hands 
of  the  meanest.  Think  not,  I  beseech  you,  that  the  idola- 
tors  of  to-day  are  to  be  found  only  in  India  and  Africa. 
There  are  hundreds,  yea,  thousands  of  them  in  this  city. 
There  may  be  many  in  this  congregation ;  and  they  are  all 
clinging  to  that  which  is  "nothing  in  the  world."  They 
have  their  anchor  out,  and  think  they  are  safe ;  but  alas  !  it 
has  not  grappled  anything,  and  so,  when  the  storm  comes, 
they  are  at  their  wits'  end !  In  time  of  peril,  a  man  has 
nothing  but  his  God ;  and  if  his  god  be  nothing,  woe's  me 
for  his  fate  !  The  day  is  coming,  friends,  when  the  terrible 
crisis  of  death  and  judgment  will  be  upon  each  of  us.  Let 
us  prepare  for  that  now,  by  accepting  as  our  God  Jehovah- 
Jesus,  who  is  all  and  in  all,  lest  at  length  we  be  driven  into 
the  dark  abyss  shrieking  as  we  go,  "  Ye  have  taken  away  my 
god,  and  what  have  I  more  .?" 


VIII. 

CONFIRMING  THE  CHURCHES. 

Acts  xiv.,  20-27. 

AFTER  the  fury  of  the  mob  at  Lystra  had  spent  itself 
on  Paul,  and  left  him  for  dead  outside  of  the  city, 
we  read  that  "  as  the  disciples  stood  round  about  him,  he 
rose  up  and  cam.e  into  the  city."  This  restoration  might 
be  miraculous,  but  in  the  absence  of  a  distinct  statement  in 
the  narrative  to  that  effect,  we  are  not  warranted  to  say  that 
there  was  anything  supernatural  in  the  case.  The  truth 
probably  was  that  he  had  been  stunned  by  a  violent  blow 
with  a  stone,  and  that,  as  no  fatal  injury  had  been  received, 
he  was  able  for  exertion  so  soon  as  his  consciousness  re- 
turned. We  may  be  at  least  quite  sure  that  there  was  none 
of  that  counterfeiting  of  insensibility  of  which  he  has  been 
accused  by  some  German  expositors.  The  next  day,  follow- 
ing the  rule  which  the  Saviour  had  laid  down,  he  and  Bar- 
nabas departed  from  Lystra  and  came  to  Derbe,  a  city  which 
has  not  yet  been  identified  by  travellers,  but  which  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  a  few  miles  east  of  Lystra.  Here,  as  in 
the  other  towns  which  they  visited,  they  preached  the  Gos- 
pel, and,  as  our  version  has  it,  "  taught  many,"  or,  as  it 
might  be  more  exactly  rendered,  "  made  disciples  of  many." 
There  is  an  important  distinction  between  the  two  words  in 
the  apostolic  commission,  which  have  both  been  translated 
"teaching."  "Go  into  all  the  world  and  teach  all  nations, 
*  *  *  teaching  them  to   observe  all  things  whatsoever  I 


148  Paul  the  Missionary. 

commanded  you."*  The  former  term,  which  is  literally 
"make  disciples  of,"  refers  to  the  conversion  of  men  to 
Christ ;  the  latter  alludes  to  the  instruction  of  those  already 
numbered  among  the  followers  of  Jesus.  Now,  in  the  pres- 
ent instance,  as  the  Gospel  had  not  before  been  preached  in 
Derbe,  it  is  clear  that  the  meaning  must  be,  as  indeed  that 
of  the  original  word  is,  that  they  prevailed  upon  many  to 
accept  Christ  as  their  Saviour  and  Teacher.  Thus  they  had 
considerable  success ;  and  as  there  is  here  no  mention  of 
persecution,  we  may  conclude  that  they  were  allowed  to 
prosecute  their  work  without  molestation.  It  is  worthy  of 
remark,  as  bearing  upon  this  point,  that  in  writing  to  Tim- 
othy and  referring  to  his  tribulations  at  this  stage  of  his 
history,  Paul  mentions  Antioch,  Iconium,  and  Lystra  as  the 
scenes  of  his  perils,  but  says  nothing  whatever  about  Derbe; 
and  this  omission  is  pointed  out  by  Paley  in  his  "  Horag 
Paulinae  "  as  a  striking  illustration  of  his  argument  founded 
on  the  undesigned  coincidences  between  The  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  and  the  Epistles  of  Paul.f 

At  Derbe  our  apostle  was  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  the  famous  pass,  called  the  Cilician  Gates,  which  leads 
down  from  the  central  highlands  of  Asia  Minor  to  Tarsus. 
With  great  ease,  therefore,  he  might  have  proceeded  by  that 
route  to  his  native  city,  and  taken  ship  thence  to  Seleucia, 
which  was  the  port  of  Antioch,  on  the  Orontes ;  but  his 
thoughts  were  not  then  of  his  earthly  home.  Barnabas  and 
he  were  greatly  concerned  for  those  who  through  their  in- 
strumentality had  become  interested  in  the  Gospel,  and  had 
professed  their  faith  in  Jesus  in  the  cities  which  they  had 
already  visited.  Therefore,  in  spite  of  the  dangers  to  which 
they  had  been  formerly  exposed,  they  resolved  to  retrace 
their  steps  through  Lystra,  Iconium,  and  the  Pisidian  An- 

*  Matt,  xxviii.,  19,  20.  t  *'  Horce  Paulinse,"  chap,  xii.,  No.  5. 


Confirming  the  Churches.  149 

tioch.  Nor  need  we  be  surprised  at  this  determination,  as 
if  it  had  been  either  rash  or  inconsistent ;  for  in  at  least 
one  of  these  cities  the  uproar  had  been  created  by  adver- 
saries who  came  from  a  distance,  and  in  all  of  them  the  vi- 
olence of  persecution  had  been  too  great  to  be  of  long  du- 
ration. Besides,  the  design  of  the  missionaries  in  returning 
to  these  places  was  not  to  renew  their  labors  among  the 
people  as  a  whole,  but  rather  to  instruct  and  strengthen 
those  who  had  been  already  converted.  In  this  way  their 
presence  would  not  provoke  such  public  antagonism  as  had 
been  formerly  awakened,  while  much  good  would  result  to 
the  young  disciples.  That  this  was  indeed  the  case,  is  evi- 
dent from  the  record  of  the  historian  : "  They  returned  again 
to  Lystra,  and  to  Iconium,  and  Antioch,  confirming  the  souls 
of  the  disciples,  and  exhorting  them  to  continue  in  the 
faith,  and  that  we  must  through  much  tribulation  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God.  And  when  they  had  ordained  them 
elders  in  every  church,  and  had  prayed  with  fasting,  they 
commended  them  to  the  Lord,  on  whom  they  believed." 

Here  are  three  things  over  which,  as  matters  of  interest 
and  importance,  w^e  may  profitably  linger  for  a  little. 

First,  the  missionaries  set  themselves  to  establish  the  new 
converts  in  the  faith ;  they  "  confirmed  the  souls  of  the  dis- 
ciples, and  exhorted  them  to  continue  in  the  faith."  These 
two  clauses  are  intimately  connected.  The  confirmation 
was  sought  through  the  exhortation ;  and  the  effect  of  the 
exhortation  was  that  the  disciples  were  confirmed.  It  is 
important  to  remember  this,  since  in  modern  ecclesiastical 
phraseology  the  terms  confirm  and  confirmation  have  come 
to  be  almost  exclusively  employed  in  a  ritual  sense.  Thus, 
Johnson  defines  the  word  confirm,  "  To  admit  to  the  full 
privileges  of  a  Christian,  by  the  imposition  of  hands;"  and 
Webster  gives  the  following  as  one  of  the  principal  mean- 
ings of  the  same  term  :  "  To  administer  the  rite  practised  in 


150  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Episcopal  churches  by  which  a  baptized  person  is  admitted, 
through  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  a  bishop,  to  the  full 
privileges  of  the  Church."  Now,  whatever  may  be  said,  in 
general,  in  favor  of  having  some  special  service  for  the  ad- 
mission to  full  communion  of  the  baptized  children  of  the 
Church — and  I  believe  a  great  deal  might  be  advanced  in 
support  of  such  a  service — yet  it  must  be  apparent  to  the 
most  cursory  reader  that  the  confirmation  here  was  some- 
thing very  different  from  any  mere  ritual  observance.  It 
will  be  seen  that  the  persons  visited  by  Paul  and  Barnabas 
were  already  disciples,  and  as  fully  members  of  the  Church 
when  the  missionaries  came  to  them  on  this  occasion  as 
they  were  at  the  time  of  their  departure ;  and  it  is  yet  fur- 
ther evident  that  there  is  no  mention  here  of  the  laying 
on  of  hands.  We  do,  indeed,  find  that  form  practised  by 
the  apostles ;  but  it  was  restricted  by  them  to  the  imparta- 
tion  of  the  miraculous  endowments  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to 
the  designation  or  ordination  of  certain  individuals  to  office. 
The  confirmation  here  spoken  of  was  not  a  form  at  all,  but 
rather  the  impartation  of  instruction  by  which  the  souls  of 
the  believers  were  strengthened.  Truth  is  the  proper  nu- 
triment of  the  soul,  and  intelligence  gives  stability  to  piety  ; 
therefore,  that  they  might  establish  these  young  converts  in 
the  faith,  Paul  and  Barnabas  led  them  up  from  the  simpler 
elements  of  the  Gospel  to  its  more  important  doctrines. 
This  was  a  perfectly  natural,  and  at  the  same  time  a  pre- 
eminently wise  proceeding  on  the  part  of  the  apostles. 
These  disciples  had  just  come  out  of  heathenism.  They 
had  as  yet  only  a  slight  acquaiiitance  with  the  truths  of  the 
Gospel.  They  had  not  received,  indeed  there  was  not  yet  in 
existence,  any  written  gospel  or  epistle  like  those  which  now 
form  the  New  Testament,  by  the  study  of  which  they  might 
"  grow  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and  Sav- 
iour Jesus  Christ."     They  were,  besides,  surrounded  by  ad- 


Confirming  the  Churches.  151 

versaries  who  could  both  sneer  at  and  argue  against  their 
new  beUef,  and  therefore  it  was  of  the  greatest  importance 
that  they  should  be  able  "  to  give  an  answer  to  every  man 
that  asked  them  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  them,  with 
meekness  and  fear."  Our  two  evangelists  knew  from  per- 
sonal experience  how  severe  such  an  ordeal  was,  and  they 
did  a  particularly  prudent  thing  when  they  sought  to  have 
these  new  disciples  firmly  grounded  in  the  truth,  through  a 
correct  knowledge  of  its  meaning,  a  clear  understanding  of 
the  evidence  by  which  it  was  supported,  and  a  constant 
obedience  of  the  precepts  which  it  enjoined.  They  wished 
to  make  them  not  only  Christians,  but  also  intelligent  Chris- 
tians ;  and  we  may  be  profitably  instructed  by  their  exam- 
ple. Conversion  is  of  immense  importance,  is,  indeed,  es- 
sential, and  we  are  far  from  seeking  to  underestimate  its 
value  even  in  the  smallest  degree  ;  but  it  is  not  ever^^thing ; 
and  it  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  leave  young  converts  un- 
guided  or  uninformed.  The  first  aim  of  the  minister,  and 
all  who  are  engaged  in  evangelistic  work,  should  be  the  con- 
version of  their  hearers ;  but  it  would  be  perilous  to  rest 
in  the  apparent  attainment  of  that,  as  if  nothing  else  needed 
to  be  cared  for.  Our  business  with  a  soul  is  not  ended 
when  it  is  converted  by  God's  grace.  We  have  then  to 
confirm  it  by  teaching,  and  establish  it  by  training.  We 
must  secure  its  progress,  if  we  would  not,  after  all,  have  to 
mourn  over  its  backsliding.  It  is  not  enough  that  we  stand 
at  the  wicket- gate,  and  hand  men  through  as  they  enter 
on  their  journey  to  the  celestial  city;  but  we  must  also 
make  up  to  them  frequently  in  the  course  of  their  pilgrim- 
age, and  prepare  them  for  the  sights  which  they  are  to  see 
and  the  enemies  whom  they  are  to  encounter  by  the  way. 
Leaving  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God,  we  must 
seek  to  carry  them  on  toward  perfection  ;  for  in  the  Chris- 
tian character  and  life  it  is  pre-eminently  true  that  where 

7* 


152  Paul  the  Missionary. 

growth  ceases  decay  begins.  Now  all  this  is  to  be  secured, 
not  by  pompous  rituaUsm  in  worship,  or  brief  rose-water 
sermonettes  in  the  pulpit,  but  by  solid,  substantial,  and  sys- 
tematic instruction  out  of  this  Book.  This  is  the  second 
great  aim  of  the  Christian  minister ;  and  in  the  proportion 
in  which  it  is  neglected  by  those  who  occupy  the  pulpit,  or 
slighted  by  those  who  occupy  the  pews,  the  life  and  strength 
will  depart  out  of  our  churches. 

But  a  second  object  which  Paul  and  Barnabas  had  before 
them,  in  their  conferences  with  these  young  disciples,  was  to 
prepare  them  for  the  endurance  of  hardship  and  opposition. 
They  said  unto  them  "  that  we  must  through  much  tribula- 
tion enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God ;"  that  is,  that  the  heav- 
enly home  of  the  saints  is  to  be  reached  only  through  con- 
flict and  trial.  For  the  "  kingdom  of  God  "  here  is  evident- 
ly the  kingdom  of  glory,  and  not,  as  in  many  other  passages 
it  must  be  understood,  the  entire  spiritual  system  founded 
by  Christ  on  earth,  and  including  both  believers  here  and 
the  redeemed  in  Paradise.  These  believers  had  already 
entered  into  the  kingdom  in  the  latter  sense,  and  therefore 
the  natural  interpretation  of  the  phrase  here  is  that  which 
restricts  it  to  the  heavenly  land.  Paul  and  Barnabas  were 
already  familiar  with  the  great  law  that,  as  Messiah  himself 
had  been  made  perfect  through  suffering,  and  had  obtained 
his  throne  as  the  reward  of  his  tribulation,  so,  in  their  meas- 
ure, his  people  must  pass  through  trial  into  triumph.  It  has 
been  true  in  all  ages,  that  "  they  that  will  live  godly  must 
suffer  persecution ;"  but  that  was  especially  the  case  in  the 
experience  of  the  primitive  Christians.  Jewish  intolerance 
had  already  sought  to  eradicate  them  from  the  earth,  and 
ere  long  Roman  arrogance  would  clamor  for  their  destruc- 
tion. Therefore,  that  these  converts  might  be  prepared  for 
the  ordeal  before  them,  the  apostles  fairly  and  honestly  fore- 
warned them  of  the  dangers  which  were  to  be  encountered 


Confirming  the.  Churches, 


153 


by  them.  Dealing  frankly  with  them,  they  set  fully  before 
them  both  sides  of  the  account.  While  describing  the 
glory  and  blessedness  of  heaven,  they  did  not  keep  out  of 
view  the  hardships  of  the  way  to  it.  While  speaking  in 
glowing  terms  of  the  conqueror's  crown  that  was  in  store 
for  each  of  them,  they  did  not  make  light  of  the  battle 
through  which  it  was  to  be  won.  They  did  not  display 
the  Eshcol  cluster  of  the  promised  land,  without  saying 
a  word  of  the  Anakim  who  had  to  be  met  and  over- 
come before  that  inheritance  could  be  theirs.  They  told 
not  only  the  truth,  but  all  the  truth,  in  the  case.  They 
did  not  hide  the  tribulation  under  an  attempt  to  describe 
the  happiness  of  the  redeemed  ;  but  neither  did  they  suffer 
the  hardship  of  the  journey  to  overlay  the  glory  of  that 
"  city  of  habitation "  which  awaited  them  at  last.  They 
told  them  to  expect  trial,  and  therefore  they  would  not  be 
taken  by  surprise  when  it  actually  came.  It  is  much  to  be 
out  of  Egypt,  and  emancipated  from  its  bondage ;  but  that 
is  not  of  itself  an  entrance  into  Canaan.  Commonly,  in- 
deed, there  is  a  long  interval  between  the  two,  and  that  in- 
terval is  mainly  filled  with  conflict.  We  have  to  do  battle 
with  the  idolatries,  the  murmurings,  and  the  mutinies  of  our 
own  evil  hearts.  We  have  to  contend  with  evil  men  and 
seducers  around  us,  who,  like  Amalek  and  Moab  and  Ba- 
shan,  are  set  for-  our  destruction.  Therefore,  we  must  be 
on  our  guard.  Antagonism  and  hardship  will  come,  for  the 
white-robed  throng  around  the  throne  are  "  they  who  have 
come  out  of  great  tribulation." 

But  then  there  is  a  kingdom  at  the  end  ;  and  by  that 
"  hope  set  before  them "  Paul  seeks  here  to  animate  the 
Christians  of  Lycaonia.  This  was,  indeed,  a  favorite  con- 
solation with  the  apostle.  It  was  very  precious  to  his  own 
soul,  and  therefore  he  took  great  delight  in  administering 
it  to  others.     Thus  he  says  elsewhere,  "  I  reckon  that  the 


154  Paul  the  Missionary. 

sufferings  of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  com- 
pared with  the  glory  which  shall  be  revealed  in  us."  "  Our 
light  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a  moment,  worketh  for  us 
a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory."  "It 
is  a  faithful  saying :  For  if  we  be  dead  with  him,  we  shall 
also  live  with  him  ;  if  we  suffer,  we  shall  also  reign  with 
him."*  When  he  was  contemplating  his  own  death  at  the 
hand  of  the  Roman  executioner,  he  solaced  himself  with 
the  assurance  that  the  Lord  would  give  him  "  a  crown  of 
righteousness ;"  and  in  every  time  of  trial  we  are  privileged 
to  take  to  ourselves  the  same  precious  consolation.  After 
the  pain  will  come  the  peace ;  after  the  conflict  will  come 
the  throne ;  after  the  cross  will  come  the  crown ;  after  the 
long,  rough  voyage  will  come  the  welcome  into  the  haven  of 

heaven,  and 

"  When  the  shore  is  won  at  last, 
Who  will  count  the  billows  past?" 

Amid  the  bitterness  of  trial,  let  us  anticipate  the  joys  of  the 
better  country,  and  then  we  shall  say  with  Bunyan,  "  The 
bitter  comes  before  the  sweet,  and  that  doth  make  the  sweet 
the  sweeter."  "  Beloved,  think  it  not  strange  concerning 
the  fiery  trial  which  is  to  try  you,  as  though  some  strange 
thing  happened  unto  you :  but  rejoice  inasmuch  as  ye  are 
partakers  of  Christ's  sufferings ;  that,  when  his  glory  shall 
be  revealed,  ye  may  be  glad  also  with  exceeding  joy."t 

Moreover,  we  must  not  forget  that  there  is  divine  support 
available  for  the  Christian  while  he  is  under  tribulation;  for 
we  read  that  the  apostles  commended  these  Christians  "  to 
the  Lord  in  whom  they  believed."  Even  if  there  were  no 
help  at  our  command,  it  would  still  be  our  duty,  nay,  our  in- 
terest, in  consideration  of  the  paramount  importance  of  the 

*  Rom.  viii.,  i8;  2  Cor.  iv.,  17  ;  2  Tim.  ii.,  ii,  12. 
t  I  Peter  iv.,  12,  13. 


Confirming  the  Churches.  155 

life  that  is  to  come,  to  endure  patiently  everything  that 
comes  upon  us  for  Jesus'  sake.  But  we  may  have,  for  the 
asking,  grace  sufficient  for  us,  and  strength  perfected  in 
weakness ;  and  Paul  taught  this  lesson  most  efficiently  to 
his  Lycaonian  disciples  by  leading  them  with  him  to  the 
mercy-seat.  Tribulation  cannot  hurt  us  when  we  bear  it 
prayerfully ;  and  our  conflict  must  end  in  victory  when  we 
fight  upon  our  knees.  When  Israel,  led  on  by  Joshua,  en- 
countered Amalek  in  Rephidim,  Moses  went  up  to  the  top 
of  the  rock  and  stretched  forth  his  hands  in  prayer  on  their 
behalf,  so  that  Amalek  was  discomfited.  And  when  we  shall 
fight  against  our  spiritual  adversaries  with  the  courage  of 
Joshua,  and  supplicate  God's  grace  with  the  earnestness  of 
Moses,  the  issue  will  not  be  doubtful. 

"  Satan  trembles  when  he  sees 
The  weakest  saint  upon  his  knees." 

Paul  taught  these  converts  to  pray  for  themselves,  by  pray- 
ing with  them  and  for  them  ;  and  it  is  not  less  our  privilege 
than  it  is  our  duty,  to  remember  at  God's  throne  those  young 
disciples  who  have  recently  come  to  a  knowledge  of  the 
truth.  Their  strength  as  well  as  our  own  is  in  God  ;  and 
with  his  spirit  in  our  hearts,  we  shall  all  be  "  more  than  con- 
querors through  him  that  loved  us." 

But  a  third  important  object  which  Barnabas  and  Paul 
had  in  view  in  revisiting  these  cities,  was  to  complete  among 
the  disciples  in  each  of  them  the  organization  of  a  Christian 
Church.  "When  they  had  ordained  them  elders  in  every 
church,  and  had  prayed  with  fasting,  they  commended  them 
to  the  Lord."  It  is  not  good  for  believers  themselves  to 
stand  in  isolation.  There  is  such  virtue  in  union  that  it 
gives  the  stability  of  the  whole  to  each  of  its  members. 
And  so  for  the  steadfastness  of  the  individual  it  is  impor- 
tant that  he  should  come  into  fellowship  with  others.    More- 


156  JPaul  the  Missionary. 

over,  the  organization  of  a  visible  society  was  indispensable 
to  the  perpetuation  of  the  influence  of  Christ  upon  the  earth. 
One  may  be  a  Christian  without  connecting  himself  with 
the  external  society  called  the  Church ;  but  if  you  will  ana- 
lyze the  matter  carefully,  you  will  discover  that  he  has  been 
somehow  indebted  to  the  Church  for  his  knowledge  of  the 
Gospel,  and  that  it  is  only  through  the  organization  of  such 
a  society  that  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  has  been  preserved  for 
all  these  centuries  in  the  world.  But  a  society  needs  order ; 
and  there  can  be  no  order  without  some  kind  of  office-bear- 
ers. Hence  in  the  early  Church  we  find  mention  of  elders. 
Indeed,  a  church  was  considered  by  our  apostle  to  be  in- 
complete if  it  had  not  these  officials ;  for  when  Titus  was 
left  by  him  in  Crete  to  ordain  elders  in  every  city,  he  was 
commissioned  to  "set  in  order  the  things  that  are  want- 
ing."=s^  Now,  as  this  is  the  first  time  we  have  come  upon 
the  mention  of  this  office,  we  may  take  the  opportunity  of 
setting  before  you  a  brief  summary  of  all  that  the  New  Tes- 
tament contains  in  regard  to  the  position  and  duties  of  those 
who  held  it. 

In  each  Jewish  synagogue  there  was  a  board  of  elders, 
presided  over  by  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue ;  and  perhaps 
the  idea  of  having  a  similar  organization  in  the  Christian 
Church  was,  under  the  providence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  sug- 
gested by  that  circumstance  to  the  first  disciples  at  Jerusa- 
lem, from  whom  it  spread  wherever  the  Gospel  was  proclaim- 
ed. But,  however  we  may  account  for  the  adoption  of  such 
a  system,  the  following  things  seem  to  me  to  be  very  clear 
from  a  careful,  and  I  trust  also  a  candid,  investigation  of  the 
New  Testament  on  this  matter  : 

First,  one  and  the  same  class  of  office-bearers  is  denoted 
by  the  two  words,  elders  and  bishops.     The  term  presbyter 

*  Titus  i.,  5. 


Confirming  the  Churches.  157 

or  elder,  in  its  etymological  sense,  had  reference  to  the  age 
of  the  person  usually  selected  for  the  office ;  for,  as  the  mul- 
titude of  years  is  commonly  associated  with  wisdom,  a  man 
tolerably  advanced  in  life  would  commonly  be  chosen  for  a 
position  which  needed  prudence.  The  term  episcopos  or 
bishop,  again,  in  its  literal  sense  of  overseer,  had  reference 
to  the  duties  which  were  required  of  those  who  held  the  of- 
fice ;  but  both  words  belong  to  the  same  order  of  office- 
bearers, and  are  used  in  the  New  Testament  interchange- 
ably. Thus  Paul  sent  for  the  elders  of  the  Church  of  Eph- 
esus  to  Miletus,  and  when  they  came  he  said,  "Take  heed  to 
all  the  flock,  over  the  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  you 
overseers,"*  or  bishops.  Peter,  exhorting  "elders,"  says, 
"  Feed  the  flock  of  God  which  is  among  you,  taking  the 
oversight  thereof,"  for  bishoping  it.  And  Paul,  after  speci- 
fying to  Titus  the  kind  of  persons  who  should  be  chosen  as 
elders,  proceeds  to  give  his  reasons  for  naming  certain  qual- 
ifications thus :  "  For  a  bishop  must  be  blameless. "t  I  need 
not  dwell  on  this,  for  it  is  now  universally  admitted  that,  in 
the  New  Testament  use  of  the  words,  presbyters  and  bish- 
ops refer  to  the  same  order  of  office-bearers. 

Second,  there  was  a  plurality  of  elders  in  every  church. 
This  fact  is  established  by  one  of  the  verses  before  us  to- 
night, in  which  it  is  said,  "they  ordained  elders  in  every 
church ;"  by  the  statement  that  Paul  "  sent  for  the  elders  of 
the  church  "§  at  Ephesus  ;  and  by  the  salutation  of  the  epis- 
tle of  the  Church  at  Philippi,||  in  which  the  apostle  address- 
es the  bishops  and  deacons  both  in  the  plural.  There  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  any  case  in  which  there  was  only 
one  elder  in  a  church. 

Third,  it  seems  that  there  were  some  of  those  elders  who 


*  Acts  XX.,  17-28.  t  I  Peter  v.,  2.  J  Titus  i.,  7. 

§  Acts  XX.,  17.  II  Phil,  i.,  I. 


158  Paul  the  Missionary. 

only  ruled,  and  others  of  them  who  both  taught  and  ruled. 
This,  I  think,  is  a  legitimate  inference  from  the  words,  "  Let 
the  elders  that  rule  well  be  counted  worthy  of  double  honor, 
especially  they  who  labor  in  the  word  and  doctrine."*  Ev- 
idently in  these  words  two  sorts  of  elders  are  spoken  of; 
but  whether  the  distinction  between  them  was,  like  that  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  a  matter  of  designation  from  the 
first,  or  whether  they  were  all  alike  ordained  to  the  one  of- 
fice, and  then,  as  an  after-agreement  of  preference  and  ar- 
rangement among  themselves,  each  took  the  department  for 
which  he  was  best  adapted  —  some  shrinking  from  public 
speaking,  and  others  readily  accepting  the  appointment  to 
it — we  cannot  now  determine ;  though,  in  my  own  opinion, 
the  latter  is  the  more  probable  alternative.  The  rule  which 
they  were  to  exercise  was  not  so  much  that  of  authority  as 
of  influence.  It  was  moral  rather  than  legal.  They  were 
to  feed  or  shepherd  the  flock  of  God,  not  "  as  being  lords 
over  God's  heritage,"  but  as  "being  ensamples  to  the  flock."t 
But  their  brethren  were  to  "obey  them  that  had  the  rule 
over  them,  and  submit  themselves,  because  they  watched  for 
their  souls  as  they  that  must  give  account." $ 

Fourth,  these  elders,  while  chosen  by  the  members  of  the 
church,  were  appointed  or  ordained  by  the  apostles  or  evan- 
gelists. In  the  narrative  which  has  been  to-night  before  us, 
you  observe  that,  in  connection  with  the  appointment  of  these 
elders,  there  was  that  which  in  our  version  is  called  "  ordain- 
ing;" §  and  then  there  w^ere  fasting  and  prayer.  The  ordi- 
nary reader,  indeed,  is  apt  to  suppose  that  these  were  not 
so  much  two  different  things,  as  two  departments  of  one  ser- 
vice. But  the  word  here  rendered  "  ordained  "  is  that  which 
is  used  to  signify  voting  in  a  public  assembly  by  the  uplifted 

*  I  Tim.  v.,  17.  ■  t  I  Peter  v.,  3. 

t  Heb.  xiii.,  17.  §  Acts  xiv.,  23. 


Confirming  the  Churches. 


159 


hand.*  The  same  term  is  employed  by  Paul  in  2  Cor.  viii., 
19,  and  has  been  translated  there  by  the  words  "who  was 
chosen."  And,  taking  it  in  the  same  sense  here,  we  get  this 
version  :  "  having  chosen  by  vote  elders  in  every  church." 
That  was  the  election.  The  fasting  and  prayer  constituted 
the  ordination,  though  there  is  here  no  mention  of  the  lay- 
ing on  of  hands.  Dean  Alford,  one  of  the  most  unbiassed 
of  expositors  on  all  questions  of  Church  polity,  puts  the  gist 
of  the  whole  clause  into  these  words  :  "  The  apostles  or- 
dained the  presbyters  whom  the  churches  elected."  From 
the  consideration  of  all  the  circumstances,  our  conclusion 
is  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  recommended  the  churches  to 
choose  their  office-bearers,  superintended  the  election  itself, 
and  then  by  prayer  and  fasting  set  apart  to  their  office  those 
who  had  been  chosen  by  the  free  suffrages  of  their  brethren. 
Thus,  as  in  the  case  of  the  deacons,  the  right  of  the  Chris- 
tian people  to  the  choice  of  their  own  office-bearers  was 
distinctly  recognized,  and  all  attempts  to  diminish  or  de- 
stroy that  sacred  enfranchisement  by  any  influence  what- 
ever, whether  that  of  civil  enactment  or  that  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal courts,  are  out  of  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of  the  apos- 
tles, and  with  the  essentially  popular  constitution  which  they 
gave  to  the  churches  which  they  planted  at  the  first.  No 
doubt  this  liberty  has  its  inconveniences ;  but  these  are 
small  in  comparison  with  the  evils  which  are  entailed  by  its 
infringement ;  and  it  is  dearly  bartered  for  any  worldly  ad- 
vantages. "  The  Church  of  Christ,"  as  Ebenezer  Erskine 
said  in  that  sermon  which  was  the  occasion  of  the  first  se- 
cession from  the  Scottish  Establishment,  "  is  the  freest  so- 
ciety in  the  world,"  and  out  of  it  have  come  in  the  directest 
manner  the  civil  liberties  in  which  we  rejoice. 

*  Robinson,  s.  v.,  defines  it  thus :  "  To  stretch  out  the  hand,  to  hold 
up  the  hand  as  in  voting ;  hence,  to  vote ;"  and  he  would  translate  it  in 
this  place  by  the  words  "  to  appoint  by  vote." 


i6o  Paul  the  Missionary. 

I  have  not  gone  into  these  details  regarding  primitive 
ecclesiastical  polity  in  the  interests  of  any  one  denomina- 
tion above  another ;  for  I  do  not  believe  that  any  church 
presently  in  existence  among  us  conforms  in  every  respect 
to  apostolic  usage ;  and  if  we  were  to  attempt  to  bring  oth- 
ers up  in  some  favorite  particular  of  ours  to  this  ancient 
form,  we  might  discover  that  in  certain  other  respects, 
deemed  by  many  most  important,  we  are  ourselves  deficient. 
But  my  purpose,  in  this  comprehensive  summary  of  the  place 
and  functions  of  the  New  Testament  elder,  has  been  to  show 
you  that  the  two  poles  of  ecclesiastical  organization  are 
these  :  liberty  and  order.  However  we  may  differ  from 
each  other  in  minor  matters,  I  take  it  that  no  church  has 
any  claim  to  stand  on  a  Scriptural  foundation  which  does 
not  secure  both  of  these.  The  order  must  not  be  enforced 
by  the  destruction  of  the  liberty ;  but  neither  must  the  lib- 
erty be  maintained  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  order.  These  are 
in  ecclesiastical  affairs  what  the  centripetal  and  centrifugal 
forces  are  in  the  solar  system ;  and  the  Church,  by  whatever 
name  it  calls  itself,  which  moves  in  the  orbit  where  these 
two  forces  are  in  equipoise,  neither  one  infringing  or  im- 
pinging on  the  other,  may  fairly  be  said  to  be  regulated  by 
the  principles  which  underlie  the  organization  of  the  primi- 
tive Church,  even  although  it  has  not  precisely  copied  the 
details. 

Having  taken  a  loving  and  prayerful  farewell  of  the 
brethren  in  each  of  these  three  inland  cities,  our  two  mis- 
sionaries retraced  their  steps  down  through  Pisidia  to  Per- 
ga,  where  they  landed  formerly  from  Cyprus,  and  whence 
Mark  departed  for  Jerusalem.  On  the  occasion  of  their 
first  visit  they  did  not,  so  far  as  appears,  stay  to  preach  at 
all ;  but  now  they  followed  their  usual  custom,  and  pro- 
claimed "  the  glad  tidings  "  to  all  who  would  listen  to  their 
words.     Nothing,  however,  is  said  as  to  their  success. 


Confirming  the  Churches.  i6i 

From  Perga  they  pushed  on  to  Attalia,  the  seaport  on  the 
Gulf  of  Pamphylia,  which  drew  to  itself  the  commerce  both 
of  Syria  and  Egypt.  Here  they  took  ship,  and  after  a  brief 
voyage  they  completed  their  first  missionary  circuit  by  re- 
turning through  Seleucia  to  Antioch,  in  Syria,  "  from  whence 
they  had  been  recommended  to  the  grace  of  God  for  the 
work  which  they  fulfilled." 

Immediately  on  their  arrival  at  Antioch  they  gathered 
the  members  of  the  Church  together,  and  gave  a  detailed 
report  of  their  proceedings,  telling  their  story  in  such  a  way 
as  to  keep  themselves  in  the  background,  and  give  all  the 
glory  to  God;  for  "they  rehearsed  all  that  God  had  done 
with  them,  and  how  he  had  opened  the  door  of  faith  unto 
the  Gentiles."  Admirable  humility  !  Let  us  imitate  their 
example  in  our  individual  spheres,  and  seek  evermore  the 
spirit  which  would  say,  "  Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us, 
but  unto  thy  name  give  glory  for  thy  mercy  and  thy  truth's 
sake." 

I  cannot  conclude  without  pausing  for  a  few  moments  over 
the  record  of  this  first  missionary  meeting.  What  an  in- 
terest there  is  for  us  in  these  days  in  this  simple  narrative ! 
But  our  delight  in  the  history,  great  as  it  is,  may  not  be 
compared  with  the  enthusiasm  which  the  presence  of  Paul 
and  Barnabas  would  evoke  at  that  assembly  of  the  Church. 
We  may  be  sure  that  every  member  would  be  in  his  place 
that  day.  Even  as,  years  ago,  the  eloquence  of  Duff  held 
thousands  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  bound  as  by  a  spell, 
and  men  listened  in  the  Old  Country  to  Williams  and  Mof- 
fat, and  in  America  to  Judson  and  his  noble  compeers,  so 
it  would  be  then  at  Antioch.  With  what  intense  attention 
would  they  follow  Paul,  as  he  told  of  confronting  Elymas  at 
Paphos,  and  of  his  preaching  in  the  synagogue  of  Antioch 
in  Pisidia !  And  how  tearfully  would  they  listen  to  his  re- 
cital of  his  maltreatment  by  the  men  of  Lystra ;  while,  as  the 


1 62  Paul  the  Missionary. 

great  success  which  had  followed  the  labors  of  Barnabas  and 
himself  was  set  before  them,  they  would  break  forth  into 
one  long,  loud  anthem  of  praise  to  Him  who  had  given  such 
testimony  to  the  word  of  his  grace,  and  had  opened  such 
^'  a  door  of  faith  unto  the  Gentiles."  It  was  the  birth-hour 
in  them  of  a  new  joy.  Now  for  the  first  time  they  became 
partakers  of  the  gladness  of  those  celestial  ones,  who  rejoice 
over  "  one  sinner  that  repenteth."  Now  they  learned  the 
meaning  of  the  Saviour's  words  :  "  It  is  more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive."  It  was  a  new  experience,  and  filled  them 
for  the  time  with  ecstasy.  Let  us  hope,  however,  that  it  did 
not  die  down  among  them  so  rapidly  as  I  fear  it  has  done 
among  ourselves.  Audiences  can  be  obtained  for  almost 
any  adventurer  who  chooses  to  visit  our  shores  ;  and  even 
Christian  families  will  turn  out  in  crowds  to  be  amused  by 
some  professional  manufacturer  of  mirth ;  but  when  a  sim- 
ple-minded missionary,  who  has  been  laboring  for  years  to 
elevate  and  Christianize  the  heathen,  is  announced  to  preach, 
there  is  "a  beggarly  array  of  empty  benches."  Something 
of  this,  perhaps,  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  many  of  these 
brethren,  when  they  come  among  us,  set  themselves  to  the 
discussion  of  abstract  questions,  instead  of  "  rehearsing  all 
that  God  has  done  with  them."  But  more  of  it  is  owing  to 
our  lack  of  interest  in  the  glorious  cause  with  which  they 
are  identified ;  for  we  do  not  seem  to  care  much  for  mis- 
sionary intelligence,  no  matter  how  it  is  presented.  Our 
Missionary  Heralds  lie  unread  amid  the  piles  of  periodicals 
that  accumulate  upon  our  tables ;  our  missionary  meetings 
are  too  generally  counted  the  driest  of  all  our  services  ;  and 
there  are  few  among  us  who  could  give  any  very  intelligent 
account  of  the  condition  of  the  missionary  enterprise  in  any 
single  field,  not  to  speak  of  the  world  at  large.  Brethren, 
these  things  ought  not  so  to  be  !  The  annals  of  history 
contain  nothing  grander,  as  a  manifestation  of  heroic  self- 


Confirming  the  Churches.  163 

sacrifice,  than  the  deeds  of  our  modern  missionaries.  Their 
journals  read  almost  like  a  continuation  of  this  book  of 
The  Acts  of  the  Apostles ;  and  their  success  in  many  lands 
is  one  of  the  most  striking  illustrations  of  the  power  of  the 
Gospel,  and  a  much-needed  counteractive  to  the  material- 
istic unbelief  that  is  seeking  to  make  disciples  among  us. 
There  is  no  more  honorable  roll  of  names  than  that  which 
has  upon  it  those  of  Buchanan  and  Carey,  Judson  and  Mar- 
tyn,  Mills  and  Morison,  Burns  and  Patteson,  Williams  and 
Moffat;  and  when,  some  years  ago,  the  last  named  of  these 
— the  father-in-law  of  Livingstone — after  fifty  years  of  ser- 
vice in  Caffreland,  giving  the  ordination  charge  to  his  son, 
said, "  I  am  homesick  for  Africa,  I  want  to  go  back  and  la- 
bor for  my  beloved  Caffres,"  I  do  not  wonder  that  the  au- 
dience was  moved  with  an  interest  that  was  "  too  deep  for 
tears."  Who  does  not  feel  himself  reproved  by  such  an 
utterance  from  such  a  man  ?  Brethren,  let  us  shake  off  our 
indifference  in  this  department  of  the  Master's  work  !  Let 
us  keep  our  ears,  open  for  tidings  from  our  missionaries  ! 
Let  us  sustain  them  by  our  gifts  and  by  our  prayers  ;  and 
when  they  come  back  among  us  to  tell  us  what  God  has 
done  through  them,  let  us  hear  no  more  the  depreciating 
whisper,  as  they  ascend  the  pulpit,  "  It's  only  a  mission- 
ary ;"  but  let  us  give  them  ovations  more  enthusiastic  than 
those  which  greet  the  warrior,  for  they  are  "  men  that  have 
hazarded  their  lives  for  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
Think  not  that,  in  speaking  thus,  I  am  forgetting  the  ur- 
gency of  home.  I  know  that  there  are  heathen  in  our  own 
city  as  ignorant  and  degraded  as  those  anywhere  else. 
They  need  our  efforts  too  ;  and  on  the  evening  of  Thanks- 
giving-day I  counted  it  my  privilege  to  go  to  the  Water- 
street  Mission  and  do  what  I  could,  by  my  sympathy  and 
assistance,  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  those  who  are  labor- 
ing there.     That  is  a  noble  work;  and  God  tliere  also  is 


i64  Paul  the  Missionary. 

giving  testimony  to  the  word  of  his  grace  by  the  conversion 
of  sinners.  But  this  ought  we  to  do,  and  not  to  leave  the 
other  undone ;  and  he  who  is  most  earnestly  interested  in 
the  one  will  be  most  indefatigable  also  in  helping  on  the 
other.  We  are  no  true  disciples  of  Christ  if  we  fail  to  do 
our  utmost  for  both. 


\ 


IX. 

THE  COUNCIL  OF  JERUSALEM, 

Acts  xv.,  1-29;  Gal.  ii.,  i-io. 

SOME  time  after  the  return  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  from 
their  first  missionary  circuit,  and  while  they  were  labor- 
ing earnestly  at  Antioch,  certain  Jews  who  professed  to  be- 
lieve in  the  Lord  Jesus  came  from  Jerusalem  to  that  city, 
and  proved  the  occasion  of  the  first  serious  controversy  in 
the  Christian  Church  by  insisting  on  the  circumcision  of 
the  Gentile  converts  as  a  thing  essential  to  their  salvation. 

Rightly  to  understand  the  merits  of  the  question  at  issue, 
and  the  importance  of  the  principles  involved,  we  must  look 
a  little  closely  at  the  ground  taken  by  each  of  the  parties. 
The  Church  at  Jerusalem  was  composed  almost  entirely  of 
Jews,  who,  with  their  faith  in  Christ,  combined  a  conscien- 
tious observance  of  the  law  of  Moses.  The  rite  of  circum- 
cision had  been  enjoined  on  Abraham,  in  connection  with 
his  reception  of  the  promise,  "  In  thee  and  in  thy  seed 
shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed."  This  in- 
junction the  Lord  Jesus  had  nowhere  expressly  repealed. 
He  had  himself  submitted  to  the  law.  He  had  chosen 
his  apostles  from  among  those  who  had  been  marked  with 
the  sign  of  the  covenant;  and  no  direct  command  had 
been  issued  to  the  effect  that  any  should  be  admitted  to 
the  Church  save  through  the  gate  of  Judaism.  No  doubt 
Cornelius  had  been  baptized  by  Peter,  but  that  was  after 
he  had  been  authorized  to  administer  the  ordinance  by  a 


1 66  Paul  the  Missionary. 

heavenly  vision ;  and  it  might  be  said  that  such  a  case 
was  quite  exceptional,  and  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  prec- 
edent except  for  occasions  which  were  entirely  parallel. 
The  Judaizers,  therefore,  to  use  the  most  convenient  name 
for  them,  were  the  conservative  party  in  the  early  Church. 
They  stood  by  the  ancient  ritual,  and  would  have  no  change 
introduced  without  some  divine  and  formal  enactment. 
When,  therefore,  they  heard  what  Paul  and  Barnabas  had 
been  doing  at  Antioch,  they  were  greatly  disturbed.  It  was 
not  with  them  a  matter  only  of  national  pride,  though  that 
might,  and  perhaps  did,  enter  into  their  thoughts ;  but  it  was 
a  thing  of  conscience.  Believing  that  God  required  Chris- 
tians to  be  circumcised,  they  stood  for  obedience  to  his  com- 
mand ;  and  because  they  regarded  Paul  as  violating  the 
original  condition  of  the  covenant,  they  came  down  to  An- 
tioch to  make  investigation.  They  represented — incorrect- 
ly, as  it  came  out  afterward — that  they  had  come  from  the 
apostle  James  ;  and  in  his  Galatian  letter,  which,  as  we  hold, 
refers  to  the  same  controversy  and  the  same  visit  to  Jeru- 
salem as  the  history  here,*  Paul  describes  them  as  certain 
"false  brethren  unawares  brought  in, who  came  in  privily 
to  spy  out  our  liberty  which  we  have  in  Christ  Jesus,  that 
they  might  bring  us  into  bondage."  We  infer,  therefore, 
that  they  did  not  at  once  openly  and  frankly  state  their 
views.  They  waited  until,  in  an  underhand  and  disingenu- 
ous manner,  they  had  seen  what  was  going  on,  and  then, 
having  obtained,  as  they  thought,  materials  for  an  accusa- 
tion against  Paul  and  Barnabas,  they  came  out  with  the 
assertion  to  the  Gentile  believers,  "  Except  ye  -be  circum- 
cised after  the  manner  of  Moses,  ye  cannot  be  saved." 
This  allegation  naturally  roused  all  the  fervor  of  Paul, 

.*  For  the  reasons  for  our  identification  of  the  two  visits  in  Acts  xv. 
and  Gal.  ii.,  see  note  at  the  end  of  this  discourse. 


The  Council  of  Jerusalem.  167 

for  he  belonged  to  the  party  of  progress  j  and  while  willing 
to  give  the  past  whatever  importance  was  its  due,  he  was 
more  concerned  to  secure  the  interests  of  the  future  than 
to  perpetuate  the  customs  of  the  former  economy.  He 
saw  that  the  question  involved  was  virtually  this :  whether 
Christianity  was  for  humanity  or  for  a  nation ;  whether  the 
Gospel  was  for  Jews,  and  only  for  Gentiles  when  they  be- 
came Jews,  or  for  men  as  men ;  whether  salvation  was  by 
grace  through  faith  to  all  and  sundry,  or  through  Christ  and 
circumcision  as  being  both  equally  indispensable.  This,  in 
his  judgment, was  fundamental;  and  so  he  grappled  with 
his  adversaries  at  once,  and  insisted  on  bringing  the  matter 
to  an  issue.  Had  these  strangers  made  request  that,  in 
consideration  of  the  feelings  of  the  Jews  and  for  the  sake 
of  peace  and  brotherhood,  certain  concessions  should  mean- 
while be  made  by  the  Gentile  believers,  then  he  would  have 
complied  with  their  wish  ;  for  that  was  the  course  which  he 
followed  at  a  later  day  in  the  circumcision  of  Timothy,*  and 
that  was  the  principle  which  he  enforced  on  the  Corinthi- 
ans and  Romans  concerning  meat  which  had  been  offered 
to  idols  ;t  but  when  the  demand  was  made  on  the  ground 
that  there  could  be  no  salvation  unless  it  was  complied  with, 
he  would  "give  place  by  subjection,  no  not  for  an  hour," 
that  the  truth  of  the  gospel  might  be  maintained.  This 
created  no  small  dissension  and  disputation,  and  at  length, 
by  the  appointment  of  the  Church,  fortified  in  Paul's  case 
by  a  direct  revelation  to  himself, t  he  and  Barnabas  were 
sent  "  to  Jerusalem,  unto  the  apostles  and  elders,  about  this 
question." 

The  result  was  a  vindication  of  Paul,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  the  principle  that  the  sanction  of  God,  as  clearly 

*  Acts  xvi.,  2.  t  I  Cor.  x.,  14-33  5  Rom.  xiv.,  1-23. 

t  Gal.  ii.,  2.     See  note  at  the  end  of  this  lecture. 
8 


1 68  Paul  the  Missionary. 

manifested  by  his  Spirit  and  in  his  providence,  may  be 
taken  by  the  Church  as  an  indication  of  his  v/ill,  even  with- 
out any  special  divine  injunction  verbally  communicated. 
No  formal  command  of  Christ  was  received  by  Christians 
requiring  them  to  discontinue  the  observance  of  the  rites  of 
Moses ;  yet  v/hen  the  neglect  of  these  rites  was  clearly  seen 
to  be  approved  by  God  in  the  ministrations  of  his  servants, 
the  Church  wisely  accepted  that  as  an  intimation  of  his  will, 
and  regulated  her  affairs  accordingly.  I  am  the  more  con- 
cerned to  give  definiteness  to  this  aspect  of  the  case,  because 
it  applies  to  other  things  than  circumcision — being,  indeed, 
a  recognition  of  all  development  in  the  Church  which  is  not 
inconsistent  with  or  a  corruption  of  its  fundamental  prin- 
ciples. The  change  of  the  Sabbath  from  the  seventh  day 
of  the  week  to  the  first,  may  be  indicated  as  an  illustration 
of  the  class  of  particulars  to  which  I  refer. 

It  may  seem  singular  that  Paul,  who  in  some  of  his  let- 
ters stands  so  strongly  on  his  own  apostolic  authority  and 
independence,  should  have  been  willing  to  submit  anything 
to  the  apostles  and  elders  at  Jerusalem  ;  but  in  taking  this 
course  he  was  studying  "  the  things  that  make  for  peace." 
It  had  been  represented  that  these  strangers  had  come  from 
James ;  and  the  brotherly  part  was  to  inquire  whether  they 
were  really  authorized  by  the  Church  at  Jerusalem  to  speak 
as  they  had  done,  and  to  consult  whether  some  arrangement 
satisfactory  to  both  parties,  yet  preserving  intact  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Gospel,  could  not  be  reached.  On  the  ques- 
tion whether  circumcision  was  essential  to  salvation,  Paul 
would  not  have  yielded  even  to  an  angel  from  heaven,"*  and 
that  he  would  not  submit  to  the  decision  of  any  man ;  but 
he  had  no  scruple  about  coming  to  an  understanding  with 
Jewish  believers  as  to  how  much  was  needed  to  satisfy  their 

*  Gal.  i.,  8,  9. 


The  Council  of  Jerusalem.  169 

consciences,  and  how  far  the  Gentiles  would  be  willing  to 
go  in  that  direction.  On  the  matter  of  doctrine  he  was  firm ; 
on  that  of  policy  he  was  inclined  to  be  accommodating ;  and 
it  was  the  policy,  not  the  doctrine,  that  he  went  to  Jerusalem 
to  settle. 

When  the  delegates  left  Antioch,  they  were  accompanied 
for  some  distance  on  their  way  by  the  members  of  the 
church,  and  at  every  place  at  which  they  halted  on  their 
journey  through  Phenice  and  Samaria  they  were  received 
by  brethren  in  Christ,  whose  hearts  were  gladdened  by  the 
news  which  they  brought  of  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles 
to  the  Lord.  At  Jerusalem  they  were  v/elcomed  in  a  man- 
ner worthy  of  their  mission.  First,  according  to  the  state- 
ment in  the  letter  to  the  Galatians,  there  was  a  private  in- 
terview between  them  and  those  who  were  of  note  in  the 
church,*  at  which  Paul  explained  his  manner  of  presenting 
the  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles  in  a  way  so  satisfactory  that  "  the 
pillars"  —  as  James,  Peter,  and  John  seem  to  have  been 
called — recognized  his  apostolic  position,  and  gave  to  him 
and  Barnabas  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  asking  nothing 
of  them  save  that  they  should  remember  the  poor.  It  was 
thus  apparent  that  in  doctrinal  matters  they  were  in  fullest 
accord. 

After  this  preliminary  conference  there  was  a  public  as- 
sembly of  the  apostles  and  elders,  at  which  the  deputies  or 
commissioners  from  Antioch  "  declared  all  things  that  God 
had  done  with  them."  But  here  dissension  began  to  show 
itself ;  for  those  of  the  disciples  who  had  been  Pharisees 
insisted  "  that  it  was  needful  to  circumcise  the  Gentiles  and 
to  command  them  to  keep  the  law  of  Moses."  Perhaps  this 
demand  of  theirs  was  prompted,  or  at  least  intensified  by 
the  presence  of  Titus,  a  young  Gentile  convert  whom  Paul 

*  Gal.ii.,2. 


lyo  Paul  the  Missionary. 

and  Barnabas  had  brought  with  them  f  and  from  what  is 
elsewhere  said,  it  is  hkely  that  there  was  special  reference 
to  him  throughout  the  discussion.  But  the  demand  to  cir- 
cumcise Titus  was  successfully  resisted  by  Paul  ;t  and  after 
the  delegates  had  an  opportunity  of  stating  the  object  of 
their  mission,  a  second  public  assembly  was  called  to  con- 
sider the  whole  matter. 

So  far  as  I  can  make  out  from  the  condensed  narrative 
before  us,  this  meeting  was,  strictly  speaking,  composed  of 
the  apostles  and  elders;  that  is  to  say,  these  office-bear- 
ers formed  the  deliberative  body,  and  the  discussion  was 
confined  to  them ;  but  the  debate  was  public  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  brethren,  or  members  of  the  church,  or  at  least 
as  many  of  them  as  could  be  accommodated  in  the  place  of 
assembly  ;  and  when  the  decision  was  arrived  at,  they  were 
requested  to  indicate  their  concurrence  in  it,  either  by  ex- 
press vote,  or,  in  modern  phrase,  by  acclamation,  so  that  the 
circular  letter  that  was  drawn  up  was  written  in  the  name  of 
"the  apostles,  and  elders,  and  brethren." 

In  the  early  part  of  the  deliberations  there  would  seem 
to  have  been  much  discussion,  the  importance  of  which  was 
not  at  all  in  proportion  to  its  earnestness.  Perhaps  it  was 
then  as  it  is  now  in  synods,  assemblies,  councils,  conven- 
tions, halls  of  legislation,  and  the  like ;  and  the  debate  was 
confined  at  first  to  the  minor  canons,  whose  artillery  is  al- 
ways more  remarkable  for  the  loudness  of  its  report  than 
for  the  precision  of  its  aim.  Then,  when  the  way  had  been 
cleared  by  their  disappearance,  the  weightier  men,  whose 
judgment  was  mature,  and  whose  character  lent  force  to 
their  words,  set  forth  their  views.     It  is  at  least  certain  that, 


*  Gal.  ii.,  I,  3. 

t  The  idea  that  Titus  was  circumcised  has  been  adopted  by  Farrar, 
but  seems  to  us  to  be  utterly  inconsistent  with  Paul's  language,  Gal.  ii.,  3. 


The  Council  of  Jerusalem.  171 

"after  much  disputing,"  Peter  spoke;  and,  according  to  his 
manner,  went  to  the  heart  of  the  subject  at  once.  He  re- 
minded his  hearers  of  what  had  occurred  at  Caesarea  in  the 
house  of  Cornelius,  and  hovv^  God  there  had  put  no  differ- 
ence between  the  Jewish  and  Gentile  believers,  giving  both 
alike  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  purifying  the  hearts  of  both  alike 
by  faith.  He  was  clear,  therefore,  for  laying  no  restric- 
tions on  the  Gentiles  from  the  law  of  Moses.  That  law 
was  a  yoke  which  neither  they  nor  their  fathers  had  been 
able  to  bear ;  and  if  they  had  required  to  depend  on  their 
obedience  to  it  for  salvation,  not  one  of  them  could  have 
been  saved.  Their  only  hope,  even  as  Jews,  was  in  the 
grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  why,  then,  should  they  put 
upon  the  Gentiles  that  which  would  do  them  no  good,  but 
would  only  be  a  burden  to  them,  unrelieved  by  any  such 
historical  associations  as  those  which  made  it  interesting 
and  important  to  themselves  ?  Thus  he  took  his  stand 
upon  salvation  by  grace,  and  placed  himself  by  the  side  of 
Barnabas  and  Paul. 

After  such  a  statement  from  the  apostle  of  the  circum- 
cision, the  assembly  was  all  the  better  prepared  to  listen  in 
a  dispassionate  spirit  to  the  deputies  from  Antioch,  both  of 
whom  now  spoke,  giving  an  account  of  their  mission  among 
the  Gentiles,  and  dwelling  particularly  on  the  miracles  by 
which  God  had  endorsed  their  proceedings,  as  being  spe- 
cially likely  to  produce  an  impression  on  the  minds  of  their 
hearers.  When  they  ceased,  James,  who  has  been  called — 
but  for  no  reason  that  I  can  discover — the  President  of  the 
Council,  took  the  opportunity  of  declaring  his  opinion.  He 
was,  as  is  generally  believed,  a  near  kinsman  of  our  Lord 
according  to  the  flesh,  and  from  his  upright  and  holy  life, 
had  gained  the  surname  of  "  The  Just."  He  spoke,  there- 
fore, with  the  weight  of  character  as  well  as  of  wisdom.  He 
recognized  the  force  of  all  that  had  been  said  by  Peter,  and 


172  Paul  the  Missionary. 

acknowledged  that  all  which  had  been  advanced  by  the  del- 
egates was  in  accordance  with  the  nature  of  the  Gospel,  and 
with  the  plan  of  God,  as  revealed  through  Amos  in  a  pre- 
diction which  he  quoted.  Thus  he,  too,  endorsed  the  prin- 
ciples for  which  Paul  contended ;  but  while  conceding  that 
the  law  of  Moses  should  not  be  laid  upon  the  Gentiles  as  a 
necessary  thing,  he  recommended  that,  out  of  regard  to  the 
feelings  of  the  Jews,  who  were  to  be  found  in  greater  or 
smaller  numbers  in  all  the  churches,  they  should  be  asked 
to  abstain  "from  pollutions  of  idols,  and  from  fornication, 
and  from  things  strangled,  and  from  blood."  His  advice 
thus  differed  in  some  respects  from  Peter's;  but  inasmuch 
as  it  compromised  no  principle,  while  it  conciliated  the  Jews 
by  enjoining  abstinence  from  those  things  which  were  pe- 
culiarly shocking  to  them,  the  assembly  adopted  it,  and  it 
v/as  readily  accepted  by  Paul  and  J3arnabas. 

In  a  matter  of  such  importance,  however,  it  would  not  do 
to  leave  the  decision  merely  to  the  recollection  of  those  who 
had  been  present.  That  might  have  led  to  misunderstand- 
ing, and  so  might  have  perpetuated  the  difnculty.  There- 
fore, with  exemplary  wisdom,  their  judgment  was  put  into 
the  form  of  a  circular  letter  to  the  churches ;  and  then  re- 
membering that  sometimes  a  written  document,  though  ever 
so  carefully  worded,  has  a  cold,  stern  aspect,  they  sent  with 
it  two  of  the  prophets  of  the  Church  of  Jerusalem — ^Judas 
and  Silas,  to  wit — who  might  give  such  verbal  accounts  of 
the  meeting  as  would  enable  the  brethren  to  comprehend  its 
meaning,  while  at  the  same  time  they  would  relieve  Paul  and 
Barnabas  from  the  necessity  of  expounding  a  decision  in 
reference  to  a  controversy  on  one  side  of  which  they  had 
themselves  been  prominent  leaders. 

Now,  out  of  this  first  recorded  ecclesiastical  procedure 
certain  important  questions  arise,  to  the  consideration  of 
which  I  invite  your  attention  for  a  few  minutes  longer.     As 


The  Council  of  Jerusalem.  173 

we  read  this  decree,  we  are  impelled  to  ask  whether  we  are 
to  regard  it  as  given  by  direct  and  immediate  inspiration. 
This  may  appear  to  be  settled  by  the  use  in  it  of  the  phrase, 
"it  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  us ;"  and  if  any 
one  should  prefer  to  adopt  that  view,  I  shall  not  enter  into 
very  earnest  debate  with  him  on  the  subject ;  but  the  follow- 
ing considerations  lead  me  to  a  different  conclusion.  First, 
there  was  a  keen  and  animated  discussion  in  the  assembly, 
all  of  which  would  have  been  unnecessary  and  out  of  place, 
if,  after  all,  the  matter  was  to  be  settled  directly  by  the 
immediate  authority  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Second,  though 
James  and  Peter  thoroughly  agreed  in  principle,  yet  there 
was  such  a  difference  between  the  advice  which  they  several- 
ly gave,  as  seems  hardly  compatible  with  the  idea  that  they 
were  both  speaking  under  the  immediate  inspiration  of  the 
Divine  Spirit.  Third,  the  peculiar  manner  in  which  the 
words  "and  to  us  "  are  appended  to  the  phrase  "  it  seemed 
good  to  the  Holy  Ghost,"  rather  indicates  that  the  mind  of 
the  Spirit,  in  this  instance,  was  revealed,  not  through  the 
direct  inspiration  of  any  one  member  of  the  assembly,  but 
by  the  general  consent  of  all  who  were  present.  The  ques- 
tion was  decided  "  by  the  use  of  means  accessible  to  men  in 
general  under  the  ordinary  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit;"  and 
it  is  possible  that  the  words,  "  it  seemed  good  to  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  may  refer  not  so  much  to  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit, 
at  the  moment,  as  to  the  manifestation  of  his  will,  which  was 
given  in  the  case  of  Cornelius,  and  by  the  signs  and  wonders 
which  he  granted  to  be  wrought  by  Paul  at  the  very  time 
when  he  was  receiving  the  Gentiles  into  the  fellowship  of 
the  Church.  As  Dr.  Dick  has  said,  "  This  ought  not  to  be 
considered  as  a  claim  of  inspiration,  but  as  a  simple  asser- 
tion that  the  sentence  was  not  expressive  of  their  private 
opinion,  but  of  the  mind  of  the  Spirit,  v/hich  they  had  col- 
lected from  Scripture,  and  from  his  recent  dispensations  to 


174  Paul  the  Missionary. 

the  Gentiles."*  And  it  is  this  aspect  of  the  matter  which 
makes  the  record  before  us  a  valuable  precedent  for  every 
after-time  ;  for  if  this  controversy  had  been  settled  simply 
by  inspirational  authority,  there  would  have  been  in  such  an 
arrangement  no  principles  available  for  the  guidance  of  the 
Church  in  the  coming  days  when  apostles  and  miraculous 
gifts  should  have  entirely  passed  away.  But  if  the  decision 
was  arrived  at  by  Christian  men  in  the  exercise  of  a  spirit 
of  brotherly  forbearance,  and  seeking  by  the  use  of  appro- 
priate means  to  discover  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  through  his 
word  and  providence,  then  we  have  here  an  example  which 
in  all  time  of  controversy  we  should  seek  prayerfully  to 
follow.  We  cannot  hope  to  compose  differences  between 
Christians  or  churches  by  some  infallible  arbiter  :  but  we 
may  heal  them  by  the  same  love,  forbearance,  and  earnest 
desire  to  do  Christ's  will,  as  animated  the  members  of  this 
early  assembly. 

Another  question  suggested  at  this  stage  has  respect  to  the 
permanent  obligation  of  this  decree.  Are  we  now  placed  un- 
der precisely  the  same  restrictions  as  are  here  enumerated  ? 
or  were  these  designed  merely  for  the  transitional  age  of  the 
primitive  Church,  to  facilitate  the  emergence  of  Christianity 
out  of  Judaism  ?  Now,  before  we  can  rightly  answer  these 
inquiries,  we  must  revert  to  the  circumstances  out  of  which 


*  "  Lectures  on  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles,"  by  John  Dick,  D.D.,  p.  293. 
So  also  Dr.  David  King  has  said,  "  The  question  was  one  regarding  which 
the  Holy  Ghost  had  already  furnished  grounds  of  judgment;  and  the 
apostles  rested  their  case  expressly  on  prior  oracles  and  miraculous  at- 
testations." And  again,  "  The  sum  of  the  whole  is,  that  the  Spirit  of 
God  allowed  apostles  and  elders  to  defend  truth  already  revealed  and 
attested,  by  arguments  drawn  from  Scripture  and  providence ;  and,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  churches,  eventually  sealed  by  his  sanction  the  just  con- 
clusions to  which  they  came." — "  The  Presbyterian  Form  of  Church  Gov- 
ernment," by  David  King,  LL.D,,  pp.  280,  281. 


The  Council  of  Jerusalem.  175 

the  controversy  arose,  and  to  the  special  reason  assigned  by 
James  for  suggesting  the  compromise  which  was  ultimately 
adopted.  The  whole  difficulty  had  its  origin  in  the  presence 
of  two  conflicting  elements  in  the  Church.  On  the  one  hand 
were  the  Jews,  who,  from  association,  education,  and  con- 
viction, were  strict  observers  of  the  law  of  Moses.  On  the 
other  were  the  Gentiles,  who,  from  national  prejudice,  were 
apt  to  despise  the  Jews,  and  look  with  something  like  con- 
tempt upon  their  religious  rites.  Pharisaic  exclusiveness 
provoked  the  retaliation  of  Gentile  defiance;  and  James 
made  his  appeal  to  the  Gentiles  on  the  ground  that  so  many 
Jews  were  in  all  the  churches.  He  says,  "  Moses  of  old 
time  hath  in  every  city  them  that  preach  him,  being  read  in 
the  synagogues  every  sabbath  day  ;"  and  it  was  the  presence 
of  those  persons  in  the  Church  that  rendered  the  observ- 
ance of  these  restrictions  necessary  for  the  sake  of  peace. 
So  soon  as  these  circumstances  changed,  however,  there 
would  be  no  further  need  of  such  concessions.  When  the 
brethren  who  were  then  weak  should  have  become  strong 
enough  to  see  that  the  Jewish  ritual  had  been  intended  from 
the  first  to  be  merely  temporary,  or  when  the  number  of 
Jews  in  the  Church  should  have  become  so  small  that  their 
presence  as  a  distinct  party  could  not  be  recognized,  then 
there  would  be  no  longer  any  need  for  this  sacrifice  of 
their  liberty  by  the  Gentiles.  To  me,  therefore,  this  compro- 
mise reads  like  a  special  provision  for  a  peculiar  set  of  cir- 
cumstances ;  and  while  the  principles  of  mutual  considera- 
tion and  forbearance  on  which  it  is  founded  are  binding  on 
every  age,  the  things  which  it  enjoins  are,  in  my  judgment, 
matters  of  indifference,  with  the  single  exception  of  that  one 
of  them  which  is  forbidden  by  one  of  the  precepts  of  the 
Decalogue. 

It  is  true,  indeed,  that  the  contrary  opinion  is  maintained 
in  the  Greek  Church,  and  is  held  bv  some  estimable  breth- 


176  Paul  the  Missionary. 

ren  among  ourselves.  They  argue,  for  the  perpetual  obliga- 
tion of  this  decree,  on  two  grounds  :  first,  because  the  prohi- 
bition of  blood  as  an  article  of  food  is  not  merely  a  Mosaic 
enactment,  but  dates  as  early  as  the  time  of  Noah  ;  and  sec- 
ond, because  in  the  decree  there  is  forbidden  an  immoral 
thing  which  is  always  and  everywhere  a  sin  ;  so  that  it  would 
seem  that  the  eating  of  things  strangled  is  as  bad  as  the 
violation  of  the  seventh  commandment. 

Now,  in  answer  to  the  first  of  these  objections,  we  admit 
that  the  passage  in  the  ninth  of  Genesis  is  the  strongest 
which  the  Bible  contains,  for  the  prohibition  of  blood  as  an 
article  of  food ;  but  we  must  not  forget  that  the  Noachian 
dispensation  was  as  distinctly  preparatory  and  educational 
in  its  character  as  the  Mosaic.  There  were  things  enjoined 
in  them  both  which  are  not  now  recognized  by  us  as  bind- 
ing. Notably  among  these  was  the  rite  of  animal  sacrifice ; 
and  in  the  existence  of  that  we  have  the  reason  for  the 
prohibition  of  blood.  So  long  as  the  one  lasted  the  other 
was  in  force.  The  shedding  of  blood  in  sacrifice  acquired  a 
new  and  sacred  significance  from  the  prohibition  of  blood  as 
food ;  but  when  animal  sacrifices  were  done  away  in  Christ, 
all  the  restrictions  associated  with  them  disappeared.  Then 
as  to  the  other  argument,  founded  on  the  mention  in  the  de- 
cree of  a  positive  sin,  a  simple  and  sufficient  answer  to  that  is 
furnished  in  the  low  state  of  public  opinion  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, in  regard  to  that  vice,  at  the  time  when  this  decision 
was  promulgated.  It  was  not  reckoned  by  them  as  a  sin  at 
all,  but  was  viewed  by  them  as  a  thing  in  which  they  allowed 
themselves,  but  from  which  the  Jews  abstained,  just  as  they 
abstained  from  certain  articles  of  food.  Nay,  it  had  even 
connected  itself  with  their  heathen  rites  of  worship,  just  as 
the  eating  of  meat  offered  to  idols  had  done.  Thus  it  occu- 
pied among  them  at  this  time  a  place  like  that  of  the  other 
things  mentioned  in   the  decree.     Moreover,  we  are  very 


The  Council  of  Jerusalem.  177 

sure  that  our  reprobation  of  that  vice  now  is  not  at  all  de- 
rived from  this  ecclesiastical  enactment,  but  rather  from  the 
moral  law  as  interpreted,  vivified,  and  glorified  by  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.     Besides,  if  we  are  to  put  all  the  things  men- 
tioned and  forbidden  here  on  a  level  with  the  violation  of 
the  seventh  commandment,  we  are  entitled  to  ask,  where  are 
the  other  nine  precepts  of  the  Decalogue  ?    If  this  decree  is 
to  be  the  new  law  of  the  Christian  Church  for  all  time,  and 
if  these  are  the  only  things  necessary  to  be  observed  by 
members  of  the  Church,  what  becomes  of  the  other  branch- 
es of  morality?     He  who  reverences  the  moral  law  as  such 
does  not  require  this  decree  to  keep  him  from  impurity;  but 
he  who  is  kept  from  uncleanness  solely  out  of  regard  for 
this  enactment,  has  not  yet  acquired  any  thorough  respect 
for  the  moral  law.     Now,  these  Gentile  converts  were  pre- 
cisely in  this  latter  case.     They  had  not  yet  fully  learned 
what  Christian  morality  was ;  and  it  was  well  to  keep  them 
from  debasing  sin,  even  on  the  low  ground  of  an  ecclesias- 
tical decree,  until  they  had  become  familiar  with  the  purity 
which  the  Saviour  enjoins.     So  soon,  however,  as  they  had 
mastered  the  principles  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  this 
decree  would  be  for  them  superseded ;  even  as  the  go-cart 
is  laid  aside  when  the  child  has  learned  to  walk  alone. 
Thus  the  very  fact  that  a  positive  sin  is  here  included  along 
with  things  in  themselves  indifferent,  is  a  proof  that  this 
arrangement  was  meant  to  be  only  temporary. 

I  cannot  pass  from  this  point,  however,  without  remark- 
ing that,  as  some  Christian  brethren  regard  the  prohibition 
of  blood  and  of  things  strangled  as  still  binding,  we  are 
thereby  furnished  with  an  opportunity  for  acting  on  the 
principle  of  forbearance,  of  which  this  decree  furnishes  an 
•  illustration.  It  does  not  become  us  either  to  ridicule  or 
despise  them.  They  claim  our  respect,  and  are  entitled  to 
our  affection. 


178  Paul  the  Missionary. 

A  third  question  springing  out  of  this  history  is  whether 
the  composition  of  this  assembly  throws  any  light  upon  the 
subject  of  church  government.  It  has  been  commonly  call- 
ed the  first  council  of  the  Church,  but  that  is  a  misnomer; 
for,  so  far  as  appears  from  the  narrative,  only  two  churches 
were  represented,  and  even  the  one  of  these  had  only  two 
delegates  present,  whereas  the  other  was  there  in  full  force 
of  apostles,  elders,  and  brethren.  But  a  general  council  is 
composed  of  a  certain  definite  proportion  of  representatives 
from  all  existing  churches.  The  advocates  of  each  form  of 
church  government  have  tried  to  find  the  germ  of  their  own 
system  in  this  primitive  assembly ;  but,  so  far  as  I  can  dis- 
cover, with  no  great  success.  Romanism  can  get  nothing 
out  of  it;  for  the  decree  was  not  at  all  like  a  papal  bull, 
and  Peter,  whom  its  votaries  represent  as  the  first  pope, 
did  not  carry  the  council  over  to  his  views.  Episcopacy 
can  get  nothing  out  of  it,  for  very  evidently  this  was  not  an 
assembly  of  bishops,  presbyters,  and  laymen,  sitting  in  two 
houses,  and  voting  in  two  divisions,  clerical  and  lay.  Pres- 
byterianism  can  get  little  out  of  it,  for  this  was  not  a  syn- 
od or  a  general  assembly  composed  of  representatives  from 
all  the  churches.  Nor  can  Congregationalism  get  much 
out  of  it,  for  here  were  apostles  and  elders  of  one  church 
sitting  in  a  body,  and  only  two  delegates  from  another 
church  with  them :  so  that  this  was  very  far  from  being  a 
mutual  council ;  and  besides,  elders  were  there,  and  they 
have  disappeared  from  almost  all  Congregational  churches. 
This  was  a  reference  by  a  mission  church,  through  its 
delegates,  to  the  mother  church,  of  a  question  which  had 
emerged  in  a  heathen  city,  in  consequence  of  the  intrusive 
interference  of  certain  members  of  the  mother  church  in 
the  affairs  of  the  mission  church.  The  two  churches  did 
not  agree  to  lay  the  matter  before  the  representatives  of 
other  churches  whom  they  had  mutually  arranged  to  bring 


The  Council  of  Jerusalem.  179 

together ;  but  with  the  utmost  confidence  in  the  strength  of 
their  position,  the  members  of  the  daughter  church  laid 
the  whole  question  before  the  mother  church,  to  v/hich 
the  offenders  said  they  belonged.  That  is  all ;  and,  being 
all,  there  is  not  much  there  to  indicate  what  the  primitive 
church  polity  really  was.  What  we  are  taught  here  is  not 
so  much  to  stickle  for  the  divine  right  of  any  form  of  eccle- 
siastical government,  as  to  be  zealous  for  the  divine  rule  of 
charity. 

But  now,  finally,  we  are  confronted  with  the  question, 
what  may  we  learn  from  this  whole  subject  that  may  be  of 
service  in  our  modern  church  life  ?  To  this  I  answer,  that 
for  one  thing  we  are  taught  to  be  on  our  guard  against  in- 
troducing division  into  churches  which  are  zealously  doing 
God's  work.  Never,  surely,  were  men  more  intent  on  car- 
rying forward  the  triumphs  of  the  Gospel  than  these  Chris- 
tians at  Antioch.  Yet  strangers  from  Jerusalem,  more  anx- 
ious about  a  matter  of  ritual  observance  than  for  spiritual 
progress,  did  not  hesitate  to  interrupt  their  activity  and  intro- 
duce controversy  among  them  by  raising  the  question  of  cir- 
cumcision. It  was  an  unjustifiable,  if  not  also  a  malicious, 
proceeding.  Missionary  work  was  for  the  time  suspended  ; 
and  Paul  and  Barnabas,  who  might  have  been  earnestly  la- 
boring in  some  new  field,  were  sent  to  Jerusalem,  all  be- 
cause these  Judaizers  insisted  on  the  essential  importance 
of  that  which  was  really  indifferent.  But  how  often  have 
similar  things  been  done  in  our  existing  churches  ?  A  fool- 
ish question  has  been  started  by  some  one-ideaed  enthusi- 
ast, who  has  pertinaciously  kept  it  before  the  minds  of  the 
brethren,  and  those  who  should  have  presented  an  unbroken 
phalanx  to  the  enemies  of  religion  have  turned  their  weap- 
ons against  each  other.  A  case  of  this  kind  occurred  in 
the  early  history  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  at  Kil- 
maurs,  Scotland,  over  which  my  first  settlement  as  a  pastor 


i8o  Paul  the  Missionary. 

was ;  and  as  I  thus  became  familiar  with  its  details,  I  may 
use  it  here  as  an  illustration  in  point.  Its  first  minister, 
the  Rev.  David  Smyton,  after  forty-two  years  in  the  pastor- 
ate, partly  under  the  influence  of  a  narrow  spirit,  partly 
also,  perhaps,  from  the  failing  of  his  powers  by  old  age,  in- 
troduced an  overture  into  the  Synod  to  enjoin  uniformity  in 
the  mode  of  observing  the  Lord's  Supper.  It  seems  that 
some  ministers  were  in  the  habit  of  "lifting"  the  bread  be- 
fore they  gave  thanks,  while  others  did  not  lift  it  until  after 
they  had  given  thanks,  and  he  wished  that  all  should  be 
required  to  lift  it  first,  as  that  was,  in  his  judgment,  essen- 
tial to  the  observance  of  the  ordinance.  The  Synod  wisely 
decided  to  leave  the  matter  to  individual  choice ;  but  this 
did  not  satisfy  the  zealous  old  man,  and,  after  troubling  the 
brethren  with  it  for  some  time,  he  withdrew  from  the  de- 
nomination because  he  could  no  longer  have  connection 
with  a  church  which  would  not  insist  on  what  he  held  to  be 
a  right  observance  of  the  Supper.  The  result  was  a  divis- 
ion in  the  congregation  itself,  a  lawsuit  about  the  property, 
and  the  building  of  a  new  church  by  those  who  regarded 
the  matter  as  non-essential.  All  that  was  yery  sad ;  but  the 
fitting,  if  also  somewhat  grotesque,  commentary  on  the  whole 
affair  is  that,  according  to  the  tradition  of  certain  old  mem- 
bers of  his  church  with  whom  I  conversed,  Mr.  Smyton  him- 
self forgot  to  "lift"  the  bread  before  giving  thanks  on  the 
first  occasion  of  observing  the  Lord's  Supper  with  his  peo- 
ple as  a  separate  body  !*  We  smile  at  such  puerilities ; 
and  yet,  though  the  history  I  have  given  is  one  of  a  hun- 
dred years  ago,  what  better  are  the  disputes  to-day  in  the 
Church  of  England  about  "the  eastern  position  .'"'  what  bet- 
ter the  controversies  about  the  communion  wine,  which  have 

*  Full  particulars  of  this  singular  case  may  be  found  in  "Annals  and 
Statistics  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church"  (Scotland),  pp.  401,402. 


The  Council  of  Jerusalem.  i8i 

split  many  congregations  into  two  ?  what  better  the  divis- 
ions about  secret  societies,  psahnody,  instrumental  music, 
pulpit  robes,  and  the  like,  which  have  kept  apart  those  who 
else  "  like  kindred  drops  had  mingled  into  one."  Friends, 
let  us  set  our  faces  against  all  discussion  upon  such  micro- 
scopic matters  as  have  no  essential  importance.  The  prog- 
ress of  the  Church  as  a  whole  is  infinitely  more  to  be  con- 
sidered than  the  airing  of  the  pet  crotchet  of  any  individ- 
ual, or  even  the  advancement  of  that  which  we  may  reckon 
the  best  form  of  worship. 

Nor  does  this  lesson  hold  only  in  the  intercourse  between 
members  of  the  same  church  or  congregation.  It  is  of  force 
also  in  the  dealings  of  denominations  with  each  other. 
When,  for  example,  a  High -Church  Anglican  bishop  goes 
out  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  which  were  evangelized  by  the 
missionaries  of  the  American  Board,  and  seeks  to  divide 
the  newly -formed  Christian  community  by  questions  of 
apostolic  succession,  church  government,  and  ritual,  we  can- 
not help  being  reminded  of  the  doings  of  these  early  Juda- 
izers.  And  when  in  some  small  Western  town  one  good 
congregation,  whether  Episcopal,  Presbyterian,  Methodist, 
or  Congregational,  is  enough  for  the  place,  and  is  doing  a 
good  work,  what  better  is  it  for  some  other  denomination  to 
go  in  and  seek  to  divide  it  into  two  or  more  weak  churches, 
on  the  simple  score  of  individual  preference  for  a  particu- 
lar kind  of  service  ?  We  execrate  the  conduct  of  these  Ju- 
daizers  at  Antioch,  but  let  us  take  care  lest  we  be  found 
repeating  it  ourselves  in  America. 

Another  thing  which  we  ought  to  learn  from  this  histoiy 
is,  that  our  Christian  liberty  should  be  regulated  by  love.- 
We  may  have  a  right  to  do  many  things  which  yet,  in  pres- 
ent circumstances,  and  out  of  regard  to  our  brethren,  we 
should  not  do.  No  doubt  if  our  brethren  should  demand 
our  abstinence  from  them  as  a  thing  essential  to  our  salva- 


i82  Paul  the  Missionary. 

tion,  then  we  may  resist,  nay,  for  aught  I  can  see,  we  must 
resist  until  at  least  they  have  conceded  our  right ;  but  if, 
our  liberty  being  admitted,  the  brethren  should  ask  us,  out 
of  consideration  either  for  themselves  or  for  others,  to  for- 
bear exercising  it,  then  we  ought  to  put  love  higher  than  lib- 
erty, and  accede  to  their  request.  That  is  precisely  where 
I  stand,  for  example,  in  regard  to  the  use  of  strong  drink 
as  a  beverage.  If  one  should  insist  that  abstinence  from  it 
in  every  form  and  degree  is  essential  to  my  soul's  salvation, 
I  think  I  should  take  it  just  to  assert  my  liberty,  or,  at  any 
rate,  I  should  insist  on  my  liberty  being  conceded ;  but  if, 
that  being  fully  recognized,  I  should  be  asked  to  forego  it 
because  of  the  good  that  my  influence  may  exert  on  those 
who  are  in  danger  from  it,  or  because  of  the  scruples  of  cer- 
tain brethren  regarding  it,  then  the  principle  of  this  ancient 
decree,  and  of  Paul's  argument  in  his  letters  to  the  Romans 
and  Corinthians,  comes  in.  I  should  still  say,  "All  things 
are  lawful  for  me ;"  but  I  would  add,  "  If  meat  make  my 
brother  to  offend,  I  will  eat  no  flesh  while  the  world  stand- 
eth.  It  is  good  neither  to  eat  flesh  nor  to  drink  wine,  nor 
anything  whereby  thy  brother  stumbleth,  or  is  offended,  or 
is  made  weak."  The  exercise  of  liberty  is  conditioned  by 
love ;  yet  even  the  love  must  insist  on  the  recognition  of 
the  liberty. 

Finally,  we  may  learn  from  this  whole  narrative  to  be  very 
zealous  for  the  free  grace  of  the  Gospel.  Paul  would  not 
allow  that  anything  was  necessary  to  salvation  but  faith  in 
Christ.  Over  and  over  again  he  contended  for  justification 
by  faith  without  the  deeds  of  law.  That  was  to  him  the 
glory  of  the  Gospel.  That  is  its  glory  still ;  therefore,  let 
us  keep  that  sacred.  It  is  not,  "  Be  circumcised,  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved."  It  is  not,  "  Be  baptized,"  whether  by  an 
apostolic  clergyman  or  by  the  form  of  immersion,  "  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved."    It  is  not,  "Take  the  communion,  and  thou 


The  Council  of  Jerusalem.  183 

shalt  be  saved."  It  is  not,  "  Confess  to  a  priest  and  receive 
absolution  from  him,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved ;"  but,  "  Be- 
lieve on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved  and 
thy  house."  "  The  just  shall  live  by  faith."  Well  might 
the  Christian  poet  sing, 

"Ob,  how  unlike  the  complex  works  of  man 
Heaven's  easy,  artless,  unencumbered  plan  ! 
No  meretricious  graces  to  beguile, 
No  clustering  ornaments  to  clog  the  pile, 
From  ostentation  as  from  weakness  free 
It  stands  like  the  cerulean  arch  we  see 
Majestic  in  its  own  simplicity  ; 
Inscribed  above  the  portal,  from  afar 
Conspicuous  as  the  brightness  of  a  star, 
Legible  only  by  the  light  they  give, 
Stand  the  soul-quickening  words, '  Believe  and  Live.'  " 


ATofe  on  the  identity  of  PaiiVs  visit  to  Jenisalem,  mentioned  Acts  xv.,4, 
with  that  referred  to  in  Galatians  ii.,  i. 

In  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  there  is  mention  of  five  distinct  visits 
made  by  Paul,  after  his  conversion,  to  the  city  of  Jerusalem ;  and  pre- 
suming, as  I  think  we  may  fairly  do,  that  the  visit  referred  to  in  the  letter 
to  the  Galatians  was  one  of  these,  the  question  arises,  which  of  them 
was  it .''  We  may  at  once  dismiss  the  first,  fourth,  and  fifth  from  the  ac- 
count ;  the  first,  because  it  was  only  three  years  after  his  conversion ; 
the  fourth,  because  Barnabas  did  not  accompany  him  on  it ;  and  the  fifth, 
because  it  was  at  the  beginning  of  his  long  imprisonment.  It  remains, 
therefore,  that  it  must  have  been  either  the  second,  when  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas went  up  from  Antioch  with  alms  for  the  relief  of  the  saints  at  Je- 
rusalem (Acts  xi.,  30),  or  the  third,  when  they  went  up  to  consult  the 
apostles  and  elders  in  regard  to  circumcision.  Some  adopt  the  former 
of  these  alternatives;  and  certainly,  if  we  had  only  the  epistle  to  guide 
us,  we  should  not  have  supposed  that  Paul  had  been  at  Jerusalem  at  all 
between  the  time  of  his  first  visit  after  his  conversion,  and  of  this  when 
he  went  up  (Gal.  ii.,  2)  "by  revelation,"  But,  on  the  other  hand,  there 
is  nothing  in  the  epistle  which  obliges  us  to  believe  that  Paul  had  never 
been  at  Jerusalem  on  any  other  occasion  than  the  two  which  he  has  there 


184  Paul  the  Missionary. 

particularized ;  for  his  purpose  there  is  to  establish  his  independent 
apostolical  authority,  and  therefore  he  is  led  to  refer,  not  to  his  visits  to 
Jerusalem  as  such,  but  only  to  those  of  them  during  which  he  came  into 
personal  fellowship  with  the  other  apostles.  Now,  when  he  and  Barna- 
bas went  up  with  their  alms,  it  does  not  appear  that  they  met  with  any 
of  the  apostles,  for  they  were  all  probably  at  that  time  absent  from  the 
city  on  account  of  the  persecution  of  the  Church  by  Herod  (Acts  xii., 
1-25) ;  therefore  it  was  not  needful,  for  the  purposes  of  his  argument  in 
the  epistle,  that  he  should  mention  that  visit  at  all. 

It  remains,  therefore,  that  the  visit  in  the  epistle  must  be  identified 
with  that  described  in  Acts  xv.  This  harmonizes  better  than  any  other 
view  with  the  best  chronology  of  Paul's  life ;  and  besides,  the  occasions 
of  the  visits  as  described  in  The  Acts  and  the  epistle  agree.  "Both 
times,"  says  Alford,  "  the  important  question  relative  to  the  obligation  of 
Christians  to  the  Mosaic  law  was  discussed ;  both  times  the  work  of 
Paul  and  Barnabas  was  discussed,  and  what  need  was  there  for  this  to 
be  twice  done  ?"*  To  all  this,  however,  Paley  and  others  make  the  fol- 
lowing objections  :  namely,  that  as  described  in  the  epistle,  the  journey 
was  made  by  revelation,  whereas,  according  to  The  Acts,  it  was  the  re- 
sult of  a  determination  of  the  Church  at  Antioch ;  that  in  the  epistle 
Paul  refers  to  a  private  conference  with  the  chief  apostles,  saying  nothing 
of  any  public  assembly,  while  in  the  history  only  the  public  meeting  is 
spoken  of,  and  there  is  no  hint  of  any  private  conference  ;  and  that  in  the 
epistle  no  mention  is  made  of  the  decree  of  the  assembly,  though  that 
might  have  been  expected  if  the  visits  were  the  same.  But  to  the  first 
of  these  it  may  be  replied,  that  the  journey  might  be  both  by  revelation 
and  by  appointment  of  the  Church  ;  since  either  the  revelation  might  be 
given  directly  to  the  Church,  or  it  might  be  given  to  Paul  himself  after 
the  action  of  the  Church,  to  remove  any  doubt  which  he  might  have  as  to 
the  expediency  of  his  going.  To  the  second  we  may  answer  that,  though 
the  history  contains  no  reference  to  any  private  interview  between  Paul 
and  the  apostles,  yet  the  course  which  the  public  meeting  took  was  such 
as  to  indicate  that  there  had  been  some  previous  understanding  between 
the  parties,  of  a  kind  like  that  which  a  preliminary  conference  would  es- 
tablish. To  the  third,  which  makes  so  much  account  of  the  absence  of 
all  reference  to  the  decree  in  the  epistle,  Paley  has  himself  given  a  satis- 
factory reply  when  he  says,t  "  The  epistle  urges  the  argument  on  prin- 
ciple, and  it  is  not,  perhaps,  more  to  be  wondered  at  that  in  such  an  argu- 

*  Alford's  "  Greek  Testament,"  vol.  ii.,  Prolegomena,  pp.  26, 27. 
t  Paley's  "  Horse  Paulin^e,"  chap,  vi.,  section  10. 


The  Council  of  Jerusalem.  185 

ment  Paul  should  not  cite  the  apostolic  decree,  than  it  would  be  that  in 
a  discourse  designed  to  prove  the  moral  and  religious  duty  of  observing 
the  Sabbath,  the  writer  should  not  quote  tlie  13th  Canon."  The  history 
was  designed  to  give'  that  which  was  important  for  the  Church,  and 
therefore  we  have  in  it  the  decree ;  while  nothing  is  said  about  the  pri- 
vate conference.  The  epistle  was  intended  for  the  Galatians,  and  was 
meant  to  show  that  Paul  was  not  a  whit  behind  the  chiefest  apostles  ; 
therefore,  in  it  the  account  of  the  private  conference  was  important, 
while  the  introduction  of  the  decree  would  have  been  irrelevant. 

These  considerations  may  suffice  for  the  general  reader.  Those  who 
wish  to  prosecute  the  subject  farther  may  consult  Conybeare  and  How- 
son,  vol.  i.,  pp.  244-252  ;  Lightfoot's  "  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Gala- 
tians," pp.  122-127,  and  the  authorities  there  referred  to  ;  also  "  The  New 
Testament  History,"  edited  by  \Yilliam  Smith,  LL.D.,  pp.  495-497. 


X. 

THE  TWO  CONTENTIONS. 

Gal.  ii.,  II-2I ;  Acts  xv.,  30-41. 

IMMEDIATELY  after  the  settlement  of  the  question 
which  had  been  submitted  by  them  to  the  apostles  and 
elders  at  Jerusalem,  the  delegates  of  the  Church  of  Antioch 
returned  to  the  brethren  in  the  latter  city,  and  read  the  let- 
ter which  the  conference  had  drawn  up.  The  decision  was 
received  with  great  satisfaction,  which  was  increased  by  the 
conciliatory  addresses  of  Judas  and  Silas,  who  explained 
more  fully  the  views  and  feelings  of  the  council  upon  the 
subject ;  and  who  "  tarried  there  a  space,  exhorting  the 
brethren  with  many  words,  and  confirming  them."  After  a 
time,  however,  Judas  went  back  to  Jerusalem ;  but  Silas  re- 
mained, and,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  became  the  compan- 
ion of  Paul  in  his  second  missionary  expedition.  Mean- 
while, the  even  flow  of  the  history  is  disturbed  by  two 
personal  misunderstandings  which  painfully  remind  us  that 
even  the  best  of  men  are  liable  to  err. 

The  first  of  these  was  Paul's  dispute  with  Peter,  which  is 
briefly  described  in  the  second  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians.*  It  would  appear  that,  after  the  holding  of  the 
assembly  at  Jerusalem,  Peter  went  down  to  Antioch.  We 
have  no  information  concerning  the  motive  by  which  he  was 
actuated  in  taking  such  a  journey.     Perhaps  he  wished  to 

*  Gal.  ii.,  11-21. 


The  Two  Contentions.  187 

show  that  he,  the  apostle  of  the  circumcision,  was  in  per- 
fect accord  with  Paul,  the  apostle  of  the  uncircumcision,  in 
regard  to  the  principles  involved  in  the  recent  controversy. 
His  first  proceedings,  at  least,  would  seem  to  favor  that 
supposition ;  for,  in  harmony  with  the  opinion  which  he  had 
expressed  in  the  debate,  he  mingled  freely  with  the  Gentiles, 
and  ate  with  them  precisely  as  if  they  had  been  Jews ;  but 
after  certain  persons  came  from  James  (that  is,  from  the 
place  where  James  was),  "  he  withdrew,  and  separated  him- 
self, fearing  them  that  were  of  the  circumcision."  Some 
have  supposed  that  the  fear  here  attributed  to  Peter  was 
not  timidity,  but  rather  an  apprehension  lest  the  Jews  should 
by  his  conduct  be  driven  into  apostasy.  That,  however, 
seems  to  me  to  be  an  over-refinement.  The  simple  truth 
is,  that  the  men  from  Jerusalem  got  round  him,  and  wrought 
upon  his  fears.  They  represented,  perhaps,  that  a  great 
outcry  would  be  made  against  him  by  his  friends  in  the 
Holy  City  ;  that  he  was  taking  a  course  which  would  seri- 
ously interfere  with  his  future  comfort  and  usefulness ;  and 
that,  if  he  had  any  regard  for  his  own  happiness,  he  should 
at  once  retrace  his  steps.  Thus  they  produced  what  we  may 
term  a  panic  in  him,  under  the  influence  of  which  his  calm- 
er judgment  was  for  the  time  dethroned  ;  and  he  hastily 
changed  his  front  in  the  presence  of  this  new  enemy.  All 
this  is  quite  in  keeping  with  what  we  know  from  other 
sources  of  the  character  and  temperament  of  Peter.  Ad- 
mirable as  many  of  his  qualities  were,  he  was  too  much 
swayed  by  impulse,  and  not  unfrequently  went  from  one  ex- 
treme to  another.  He  was  always  one  of  the  first  to  see 
and  own  the  truth ;  but  sometimes,  when  he  was  trying  to 
act  it  out,  he  was  turned  aside  by  a  temporary  influence, 
and  ended  by  proving  inconsistent  with  his  professions.  To 
such  an  extent  was  this  the  case  with  him,  that  we  might 
almost  regard  the  incidents  connected  with  his  walking  on 


i88  ,Paul  the  Missionary. 

the  water  to  go  to  Jesus  as  symbolical  of  much  in  his  dispo- 
sition and  life.  He  was  bold  at  first,  and  eager  to  go  the 
whole  length  of  principle ;  but  as  he  trod  upon  the  waves  of 
difficulty,  his  fears  sometimes  overmastered  his  faith,  and  he 
began  to  sink.  This  vacillation,  caused  by  a  sudden  access 
of  fear  hard  to  explain  in  one  generally  so  courageous, 
might  have  been  fraught  with  serious  consequences  both 
to  himself  and  others,  save  for  the  fact  that  he  was  always 
ready  to  own  his  fault,  and  to  do  what  he  could  to  repair 
the  mischief  which  he  had  caused.  He  was,  "  take  him  for 
all  in  all,"  a  noble  man  ;  but  he  was  the  very  last  of  the 
apostles  to  suggest  the  idea  of  infallibility ;  for  side  by  side 
with  the  record  of  almost  every  signal  manifestation  by  him 
of  zeal  for  Christ  and  loyalty  to  him  which  the  sacred  writers 
have  recorded,  we  have  that  also  of  some  inconsistency  which 
involved  him  in  humiliation,  and  subjected  him  to  reproof. 
He  had  scarcely  said  to  the  Redeemer,  "Thou  art  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God,"  and  received  the  high 
encomium  which  that  confession  of  his  faith  evoked,  be- 
fore he  drew  down  upon  his  head  the  rebuke,  "Get  thee 
behind  me,  Satan  !"  for  presuming  to  stand  between  the 
Master  and  the  cross.  He  had  hardly  uttered  the  solemn 
assertion,  "  Though  I  should  die  with  thee,  yet  will  I  not 
deny  thee,"  before  he  timidly  declared  that  he  knew  not 
the  man.  And  here  again,  but  a  short  time  after  his 
liberal  speech  at  the  council,  he  is  found  acting  in  such 
a  way  as  to  play  into  the  hands  of  those  whom  he  was 
then  opposing.  He  did  not  mean  to  do  anything  wrong. 
His  error  was  not  one  of  deliberate  purpose.  Perhaps,  in- 
deed, his  intention  at  the  outset  had  been  to  go  through 
with  the  principle  which  he  had  professed  to  adopt.  Just 
as,  with  the  exception  of  John,  he  was  the  only  one  of  the 
eleven  who  followed  Jesus  to  the  high-priest's  palace,  and 
there  met  the  temptation  before  which  he  fell,  so  here  he 


The  Two  Contentions.  189 

was  purposing  to  go  farther  than  others  in  showing  broth- 
erhood to  the  Gentiles,  and  thus  brought  upon  himself  such 
an  assault  as  he  was  unable  to  face.  His  courage  was  so 
much  greater  than  that  of  others  as  to  take  him  where  they 
would  not  venture  ;  but  it  was  not  great  enough  to  take  him 
through  all  the  perils  which  he  thus  encountered,  and  so 
he  came  back  more  humiliated  than  he  would  have  been 
if  he  had  not  dared  so  much.  If  he  did  sink,  however,  do 
not  let  us  forget  that  at  the  time  he  was  trying  to  walk  on 
the  waters. 

But  while  we  can  understand  how  he  came  to  act  as  he 
did,  we  can  see  also  how  his  conduct  was  distressing  to 
Paul.  That  apostle,  indeed,  calls  it  "dissimulation;"  but 
we  must  not  make  the  word  mean  more  than  it  will  bear. 
Paul  does  not  insinuate  that  Peter  designed  to  impose  upon 
others.  He  does  not  impute  motives.  He  simply  says  that 
Peter's  conduct  conveyed  to  others  a  false  impression  as  to 
his  personal  convictions.  He  appeared  to  others  to  have 
done  what  Paul  knew  he  had  not  done.  Peter  had  not 
changed  his  opinions.  He  was  as  sound  in  the  faith  as  he 
had  ever  been.  He  was  looking  for  salvation,  not  through 
the  observance  of  the  law  of  Moses,  but  through  faith  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  if  any  one  had  asked  him 
whether  he  regarded  circumcision  as  essential  to  salvation, 
he  would  at  once,  and  emphatically,  have  disclaimed  such  a 
doctrine.  But  what  Paul  complained  of  was  that  his  change 
of  conduct  at  this  particular  time,  and  at  the  suggestion  of 
these  Jews,  was  calculated  to  convey  the  impression  that 
he  had  altered  his  opinions.  It  looked  as  if  he  had  gone 
over  to  the  side  of  the  circumcisionists ;  and  appeared  to 
give  the  sanction  of  his  name  and  authority  to  views  which 
Paul  knew  that  he  did  not  hold.  The  influence  of  such  an 
example  could  not  but  be  disastrous  ;  and  in  fact  it  cre- 
ated a  current  of  reaction  by  which  even  Barnabas  was  for 


190  Paul  the  Missionary. 

the  moment  carried  back.  Paul  felt,  therefore,  that  some- 
thing should  be  done  to  counteract  this  evil,  and  the  meth- 
od which  he  adopted  was  eminently  manly  and  straightfor- 
ward. He  did  not  go  to  and  fro  among  the  brethren,  in- 
veighing against  Peter  in  his  absence,  but  he  went  directly 
to  the  erring  brother  himself,  and  "withstood  him  to  the 
face."  He  publicly  remonstrated  with  him  for  taking  a 
course  which  was  liable  to  mislead  those  who  did  not  know 
his  innermost  convictions  as  thoroughly  as  his  confidential 
friends  did.  The  expostulation  addressed  by  him  on  this 
occasion  is  a  masterpiece.  It  presents  the  finest  combina- 
tion of  delicacy  with  faithfulness,  and  affection  with  firm- 
ness, and  would  amply  repay  minute  consideration.  But  I 
must  content  myself  with  presenting  you,  in  the  form  of  a 
paraphrase,  with  the  substance  of  the  argument  which  it 
contains.  It  is  something  like  the  following  :  *'  If  you,  who 
are  a  Jew  by  birth,  and  have  been  brought  up  under  the  law 
of  Moses,  feel  yourself  at  liberty  to  disregard  its  prohibi- 
tions, and  to  live,  as  you  were  doing,  after  the  manner  of 
the  Gentiles,  it  is  unreasonable  to  compel  the  Gentiles  to 
conform  to  all  the  requirements  of  the  Jewish  law.  You  do 
not  insist  on  this,  indeed,  in  words.  I  believe  that  verbally 
you  would  repudiate  any  attempt  to  Judaize  the  Gentiles — 
even  as  you  did  in  your  address  at  the  council ;  but  still 
the  natural  inference  from  your  present  withdrawal  from  the 
Gentile  brethren  is,  that  you  have  now  come  to  believe  that 
circumcision  is  essential  to  salvation.  For  this  is  not  a 
case  of  conforming  to  the  wishes  of  a  weak  brother  who 
concedes  your  liberty ;  it  is  a  submission  to  those  who  say, 
'  Except  ye  be  circumcised  after  the  manner  of  Moses,  ye 
cannot  be  saved.'  Now  observe  how  your  conduct  affects 
the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Gospel.  We,  who  are 
Jews,  having  become  convinced  that  we  could  not  be  justi- 
fied by  the  works  of  the  law,  have  sought  salvation  through 


The  Two  Contentions.  191 

faith  in  Christ.  But  if,  in  so  doing,  we  are,  after  all,  found 
to  be  sinners  because  we  have  wilfully  neglected  the  law  as 
an  appointed  means  of  salvation,  then  it  must  follow  that 
Christ,  who  taught  us  to  neglect  it,  in  that  relation,  has  been 
to  us  the  minister  of  sin.  That  is  a  conclusion  from  which 
I  know  you  will  shrink  with  horror ;  but  you  must  be  pre- 
pared to  face  it,  or  you  must  admit  that  by  your  present 
conduct  you  have  made  yourself  a  transgressor.  There  is 
transgression  somewhere.  If  you  were  wrong  before  in  eat- 
ing with  the  Gentiles,  then,  as  you  did  that  under  the  direct 
sanction  of  Christ  given  you  in  your  Joppa  vision,  he  has 
been  to  you  the  minister  of  sin.  If  you  were  right  before, 
then  you  are  wrong  now,  and  you  are  yourself  the  trans- 
gressor. There  is  no  other  alternative ;  and  I  know  you  so 
well  as  to  be  convinced  that,  when  the  case  is  thus  put 
before  you,  there  will  be  no  hesitation  in  your  mind  as  to 
which  course  you  will  adopt.  But  however  it  may  be  with 
you,  I  have  no  misgivings  on  the  matter.  I  declare  that  I 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  law  of  Moses  for  my  justifica- 
tion. Through  the  law  itself — that  is,  by  its  condemning- 
sentence — I  died  to  the  law.  As  soon  as  I  saw  myself  in 
the  light  of  its  precepts,  I  gave  up.  all  hope  of  being  saved 
by  it.  But  I  did  not,  therefore,  repudiate  all  obligation ;  for 
then  I  came  by  faith  into  union  with  Christ ;  and  such  was 
the  effect  of  that  union,  that,  like  him,  I  live  unto  God.  I 
am  crucified  with  him,  indeed,  as  condemned  by  the  law; 
yet  I  live,  though  in  strictest  speech  I  should  say  that  it  is 
no  longer  I  that  live,  but  Christ  that  lives  in  me,  and  the 
life  that  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son 
of  God,  who  loved  me  and  gave  himself  for  me.  In  this  way 
I  do  not  make  the  grace  of  God  unnecessary,  as  I  certainly 
should  do  if  I  were  to  go  back  to  the  law  for  salvation ;  for, 
if  it  is  possible  to  obtain  righteousness  by  the  law,  then 
there  was  no  need  for  the  death  of  Christ." 

9 


192  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Nothing  is  said  by  Paul  as  to  the  manner  in  which  Peter 
received  this  brotherly  expostulation ;  but,  from  what  we 
know  of  his  disposition,  we  may  conclude  that  he  frankly 
owned  his  error;  and  w^e  have  evidence  that  it  left  no  per- 
manent sting  behind  it  in  the  fact  that,  long  after,  he  wrote 
of  his  opponent  here  as  "  our  beloved  brother  Paul." 

Now,  before  we  go  farther,  we  may  learn  the  following 
lessons  from  this  personal  contention  between  Paul  and 
Peter  :  In  the  first  place,  before  we  withstand  a  brother,  let 
us  be  quite  sure  that  he  is  to  be  blamed,  and  that  the  oc- 
casion warrants  our  protest.  Paul  would  not  have  cared 
to  interfere  with  Peter  in  any  trivial  matter ;  nor  would  he 
have  felt  constrained  to  move  in  the  case  but  for  the  handle 
which  would  be  made  of  his  peculiar  vacillation  just  at  that 
time.  No  one  had  a  fuller  comprehension  of  what  Chris- 
tian liberty  involved  than  had  Paul ;  and  no  one  was  more 
jealous  of  its  infringement.  If,  therefore,  he  had  not  seen 
that  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  Gospel  was  at  stake, 
he  would  not  have  said  a  word.  The  thing  which  Peter 
had  done  was  in  itself  indifferent ;  but  by  doing  it  just  then, 
at  the  appearance  of  the  Judaizers,  he  had  compromised 
that  truth  which  was  dearer  to  Paul  than  friendship,  or  even 
than  life,  and  therefore  he  could  not  be  silent.  If  he  could 
have  seen  any  possibility  of  explaining  his  brother's  con- 
duct in  a  way  that  was  consistent  with  his  loyalty  to  the 
Gospel  and  its  Lord,  he  would  have  taken  that,  for  he  prac- 
tised his  own  charity,  which  "believeth  all  things."  But 
there  was  only  one  alternative  here  :  either  Peter  had  gone 
quite  over  to  the  party  of  the  Judaizers,  or  he  was  trying  to 
serve  two  masters.  The  first  he  could  not  believe,  and  he 
accepted  the  latter  only  because  he  was  shut  up  to  it.  But, 
having  accepted  it,  he  founded  on  it  the  faithful  and  affec- 
tionate admonition  w^hich  we  have  just  had  before  us. 

Now,  let  us  learn  from  this  example  to  w^ithstand  a  broth- 


The  Two  Coxtextioxs. 


193 


er  only  when  we  are  thus  constrained  to  do  so  by  our  alle- 
giance to  the  truth  of  the  Gospel.  If  in  any  respect  we 
cannot  approve  his  conduct,  while  yet  it  may  be  explained 
in  perfect  harmony  with  his  loyalt}-  to  Christ,  let  us  give 
him  the  benefit  of  the  explanation,  and  be  silent.  But  if 
his  procedure  is  such  as  seriously  to  compromise  the  purit}- 
of  the  Church  or  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  then  let  us  with- 
stand him.  Nothing  is  more  contemptible  than  to  be  al- 
ways putting  ourselves  on  the  opposition  benches;  object- 
ing to  ever}-thing  that  is  proposed  by  some  particular  broth- 
er, and  going  to  a  church  meeting  -with  the  motive  of  the 
Scotchman  for  appearing  in  the  debating  socici\- — ''jist  to 
contradic  a  wee."  But  on  the  other  hand,  nothing  ought  to 
be  dearer  to  a  Christian  than  **  the  glorious  Gospel  of  the 
blessed  God,  which  is  committed  to  his  trust:"'  and  if  a 
brother  is  indulging  in  a  libeny  which  would  compromise 
that  truth,  or  insisting  on  a  strictness  which  would  make 
the  gate  of  life  narrower  than  Christ  has  made  it.  then  we 
should  earnestly  yet  lovingly  withstand  him  ;  but  let  us  be 
sure  that  he  is  to  be  blamed  for  some  such  worthy  cause 
before  we  expostulate  with  him. 

Again,  we  may  learn  not  to  be  deterred  from  opposing 
wrong  by  the  position  of  him  who  has  committed  it.  Peter 
was  an  apostle.  He  was,  in  fact,  one  of  the  greatest  pillars 
of  the  early  Church ;  but  Paul  was  not  prevented  by  any 
such  considerations  as  these  from  protesting  against  his  in- 
judicious and  unseemly  vacillation.  On  the  contrar}-,  the 
ver}-  prominence  of  Peter  made  it  all  the  more  important 
that  his  inconsistency  should  be  promptly  and  publicly  dealt 
with.  Had  he  been  an  ordinary  member  of  the  Church, 
moving  only  in  private  circles,  Paul  might  have  been  dis- 
posed to  pass  his  conduct  by  with  a  mild  remonstrance ; 
but  his  excellence  as  a  man  and  his  eminence  as  an  apos- 
tle gave  such  importance  to  his  example,  that,  if  it  remained 


194  Paul  the  Missionary. 

unchecked,  much  evil  would  have  ensued.  Therefore  Paul 
took  the  course  which  he  adopted.  No  doubt  it  cost  him  a 
great  deal  to  do  so ;  but  it  would  have  cost  him  more  to  have 
let  things  take  their  course,  and  allowed  the  liberty  of  the 
Gospel,  for  the  time,  to  be  destroyed.  It  was  not,  therefore, 
because  he  loved  Peter  less,  but  because  he  loved  the  truth 
more,  that  he  uttered  this  glowing  and  uncompromising  ad- 
monition. But  the  same  principles  hold  still ;  error  or  evil 
is  dangerous  in  any  man,  but  it  is  far  more  so  in  a  leader  of 
the  people  or  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  than  in  others  ;  and 
when  it  appears  in  one  in  that  position,  then,  however  pain- 
ful it  may  be  to  take  our  stand,  loyalty  to  Christ  leaves  us 
no  alternative.  We  ought  lovingly,  indeed,  but  firmly  and 
courageously,  to  oppose  the  evil  and  expostulate  with  the 
evil-doer.  Great  eminence  may  command  our  respect,  but 
the  truth  is  before  all  things  else ;  and  nothing  whatever 
should  be  allowed  by  us  to  excuse  treason  to  that.  Nay, 
the  more  prominent  its  assailant  may  be,  there  is  only  laid 
upon  us  thereby  the  stronger  obligation  to  withstand  him. 
The  reputation  of  any  man  is  of  small  consequence  when 
the  truth  of  God's  word  or  the  purity  of  Christ's  Church  is 
involved. 

Once  more  we  may  learn  from  Paul's  conduct  here  that 
when  we  withstand  a  brother,  it  should  be  to  his  face.  He 
did  not  go  hither  and  thither  among  the  elders,  speaking 
against  Peter  and  complaining  of  his  course,  while  at  the 
same  time  he  kept  unbroken  silence  concerning  it  to  Peter 
himself.  He  did  not  say  in  Peter's  absence  that  which  he 
was  afraid  to  utter  before  his  face ;  but  he  spoke  out  all 
that  was  in  his  heart  openly,  and  to  Peter  himself.  Now,  in 
this  also  he  has  set  us  a  valuable  example.  When  we  have 
anything  to  say  in  condemnation  of  a  brother's  actions,  let 
us  say  it  to  himself.  Too  often,  alas  !  a  contrary  method 
is  pursued,  both  in  the  Church  and  in  the  world ;  and  men 


The  Two  Contentions. 


195 


go  round  the  whole  circle  of  society,  turning  it  into  a  great 
"  whispering  gallery,"  in  which  they  sibilate  away  the  char- 
acter of  one  who  has  had  no  opportunity  of  vindicating  him- 
self. "  It  is  very  sad,  and  you  must  not  say  that  I  spoke 
to  you  on  the  subject,  but  he  has  done  thus  and  so,  and  I 
feel  terribly  aggrieved."  Thus  it  passes  on  from  one  to  an- 
other, gathering  as  it  goes,  until  a  thing  which  might  at 
first  have  been  set  right  by  a  few  kindly  and  faithful  words 
assumes  a  very  formidable  appearance,  and  perhaps  ends  in 
the  permanent  estrangement  of  the  persons  more  immediate- 
ly concerned,  and  the  production  of  discord  and  heart-burn- 
ing in  the  whole  district.  If,  therefore,  we  have  anything  to 
say  of  a  brother,  let  us  say  it  first  to  himself,  and  the  prob- 
ability is  that  we  may  never  have  occasion  to  mention  it 
again.  Let  us  say  nothing  in  his  absence  that  we  would  not 
utter  in  his  presence ;  and  if  we  have  not  the  courage  to 
speak  to  him,  let  us  at  least  have  the  grace  to  be  silent 
about  him. 

Nor  does  this  lesson  concern  the  speaker  only :  it  has  a 
bearing  also  on  the  hearer  ;  and  when  any  one  comes  to  us 
with  an  evil  report  against  his  neighbor,  let  us  refuse  to  lis- 
ten to  him,  unless  he  has  assured  us  that  he  has  already 
told  the  person  concerned  all  that  he  is  going  to  say  to  us. 
"  Where  no  wood  is,  fire  goeth  out ;"  and  if  all  to  whom  evil 
gossip  is  carried  were  only  to  treat  those  who  deal  in  it  ac- 
cording to  this  rule,  we  should  soon  banish  it  from  the  midst 
of  us.  Who  would  harbor  an  assassin  in  his  house  ?  Yet 
the  man  who  strikes  at  a  neighbor's  character  in  his  absence 
is  as  bad  as  he  who  with  stealthy  stiletto  stabs  the  unwary 
traveller  from  behind.  If  we  must  withstand  a  man,  there- 
fore, let  us  do  it  to  his  face. 

From  the  conduct  of  Peter  here,  however,  we  may  learn 
the  no  less  valuable  lesson  that  when  we  are  thus  withstood 
we  should  take  it  meekly,  and,  if  we  are  in  the  wrong,  should 


196  Paul  the  Missionary. 

frankly  own  our  error,  and  retrace  our  steps  as  rapidly  as 
possible.  I  believe  that  Paul's  appeal  was  not  in  vain. 
He  was  too  noble  to  include  in  his  letter  to  the  Galatians 
anything  which  would  seem  to  aggravate  a  brother;  and 
from  what  we  know  of  Peter  on  other  occasions,  we  may  be 
sure  that  on  this  also  he  was  as  ready  in  the  confession  of 
his  fault  as  he  had  been  rash  in  its  commission.  Indeed, 
the  careful  student  of  his  epistles  will  discover  that  in  this 
very  matter  he  uses  language  in  them  which  is  singularly 
like  that  employed  by  Paul.  Thus  the  one  apostle  has 
said,  "  Ye  have  been  called  unto  liberty ;  only  use  not  lib- 
erty for  an  occasion  to  the  flesh,  but  by  love  serve  one  an- 
other ;"  and  in  his  first  epistle  the  other  has  these  words : 
"  As  free,  and  not  using  your  liberty  for  a  cloak  of  mali- 
ciousness, but  as  the  servants  of  God."  Vv'e  cannot  doubt, 
therefore,  that  he  accepted  Paul's  rebuke  in  the  spirit  of 
meekness.  Now  in  all  this  there  was  a  magnanimity  which 
is  worthy  of  all  praise.  So  far  as  appears,  he  did  not  be- 
come excited,  and  exclaim  against  Paul  for  presuming  to 
think  that  he  could  be  wrong,  but  he  did  a  more  difficult 
and  a  more  manly  thing  :  he  acknowledged  his  fault.  Now 
here  was  a  great  triumph  of  grace.  It  may  seem  a  paradox 
to  say  it,  but  there  are  few  things  which  test  a  man's  real 
Christianity  more  than  reproof  for  that  .which  is  actually 
blameworthy.  It  is  comparatively  easy  to  guard  against 
giving  offence ;  but  it  is  exceeding  hard  to  keep  from  tak- 
ing offence  in  such  circumstances,  and  to  say  with  the 
Psalmist,  "  Let  the  righteous  smite  me ;  it  shall  be  a  kind- 
ness :  and  let  him  reprove  me  ;  it  shall  be  an  excellent  oil, 
which  shall  not  break  my  head."  We  all  assent  to  Solo- 
mon's proverb,  "  Open  rebuke  is  better  than  secret  love  ;" 
but  when  the  rebuke  comes,  most  of  us,  on  the  whole,  would 
prefer  the  love ;  and  too  frequently  we  are  disposed  to  re- 
sent the  faithfulness  of  the  brother  who  should  hint,  even  in 


The  Two  Contentions.  197 

the  most  delicate  manner,  that  we  have  been  in  the  wrong. 
We  cry  out  against  the  modern  dogma  of  papal  infallibility, 
but  we  have  all  too  much  belief  in  that  of  our  own  infalli- 
bility ;  for  our  tempers  are  roused,  and  our  hearts  are  es- 
tranged by  any  exposure  of  our  error  or  inconsistency.  How 
many  personal  alienations  and  ecclesiastical  schisms  might 
have  been  prevented,  if  there  had  been  on  the  one  side  the 
honest  frankness  of  Paul,  and  on  the  other  the  manly  meek- 
ness of  Peter  as  these  come  out  in  this  transaction  !* 

The  other  contention,  of  which  Antioch  was  the  scene, 
was  in  its  origin  more  painful,  and  in  its  immediate  conse- 
quences more  distressing,  than  that  with  Peter.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  when  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  at  Perga, 
in  the  course  of  their  first  missionary  journey,  John  Mark, 
who  had  been  till  then  their  companion  and  fellow-laborer, 
suddenly  departed  from  them  and  returned  to  Jerusalem. 
There  he  remained  during  all  the  time  that  the  two  evan- 
gelists were  hazarding  their  lives  in  Pisidia  and  Lycaonia, 
and,  for  anything  that  we  know  to  the  contrary,  during  the 
years  that  intervened  between  their  return  to  Antioch  and 
their  delegation  to  the  apostles  and  elders  at  Jerusalem.  At 
the  close  of  the  council,  however,  it  would  appear  that,  either 
under  the  promptings  of  his  own  conscience  or  as  the  result 
of  his  uncle's  appeals,  he  returned  with  them  to  Antioch. 
And  when,  eager  to  be  at  work  again,  Paul  proposed  to  Bar- 
nabas that  they  should  revisit  the  brethren  in  every  city 
where  they  had  preached  the  Gospel,  his  friend  made  it  a 
condition  that  Mark  should  accompany  them.  To  this,  how- 
ever, Paul  would  not  consent.  On  the  former  occasion  Mark 
had  disappointed  his  expectations.     He  had  put  his  hand 


*  Some  of  the  paragraphs  in  this  discourse  have  already  appeared  in 
the  author's  "  Peter  the  Apostle ;"  but  they  are  retained  here  to  give 
completeness  to  the  treatment  of  the  subject. 


198  Paul  the  Missionary. 

to  the  plough  and  looked  back ;  and  therefore  Paul  would 
not  trust  him  again.  He  did  not  forbid  him  to  work  for 
Christ,  but  he  would  not  have  him  again  under  his  auspices. 
There  was  enough  to  contend  with  in  the  difficulties  and 
dangers  which  were  inseparable  from  such  an  expedition  as 
they  proposed,  without  burdening  themselves  with  the  care 
of  a  timid  and  unreliable  companion ;  and  therefore  his  de- 
cision was  that  Mark  should  be  left  behind.  But  Barnabas, 
influenced  by  his  affection  for  his  nephew,  and  perhaps  also 
by  his  well-founded  belief  that  Mark  had  profited  by  his 
experience,  insisted  upon  taking  him,  and  the  result  was  "  a 
sharp  contention,"  or,  as  the  word  is,  "paroxysm,"  between 
them.  They  were  both  angry,  and  manifested  unseemly 
excitement.  This  little  matter  kindled  a  great  fire  ;  and 
these  two  noble  men  who  had  been  indebted  to  each  oth- 
er for  so  much,  and  who  in  their  hearts  loved  each  other 
most  sincerely,  "  departed  asunder  one  from  the  other." 
Barnabas  took  Mark,  and  went  to  Cyprus ;  Paul  took  Silas, 
and  went  through  Syria  and  Cilicia,  confirming  the  churches. 
In  connection  with  Paul's  departure,  a  valedictory  service 
was  held  by  the  disciples  at  Antioch,  and  some  have  taken 
that  as  indicating  that  their  sympathies  w^ere  with  him  rath- 
er than  with  Barnabas,  to  whom  no  such  public  farewell,  in 
which  he  was  recommended  to  the  grace  of  God,  was  given  ; 
but  it  is  safer  to  let  the  fact  stand  as  it  is  recorded,  without 
drawing  any  inference  from  it  as  to  the  feelings  of  the  Church 
in  regard  to  the  dispute  between  them.  For  the  rest,  it  is 
pleasant  to  discover  that  this  personal  separation  did  not 
ultimately  lessen  the  regard  which  Paul  had  for  his  friend ; 
for  there  are  evidences  in  his  letters  of  the  hold  which  the 
"son  of  consolation"  continued  to  keep  upon  his  heart. 
Thus  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,^  written  some  time 

*Gal.ii.,  13. 


The  Two  Contentions.  199 

after  this  breach,  we  see  how  he  speaks  of  ^'■eveti  Barnabas" 
being  carried  away,  as  if  he  still  held  him  in  the  highest  es- 
teem. Again,  in  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,*  writ- 
ten five  or  six  years  after  their  separation,  he  says,  "  Or  I 
only  and  Barnabas,  have  not  we  power  to  forbear  working  ?" 
an  expression  which  looks  as  if  the  two  were  again  compan- 
ions, and  which,  even  if  we  do  not  adopt  that  view,  clearly 
indicates  that  Barnabas  was  remembered  by  Paul  with  affec- 
tion unmingled  with  the  least  element  of  bitterness.  We 
know  too  that  he  regained  his  respect  for  Mark.  It  comes 
out  incidentally  in  one  of  his  letters,t  that  during  his  first 
imprisonment  at  Rome,  Mark  was  with  him ;  and  it  is  with 
a  singular  interest  that  we  read  his  injunction  to  Timothy, 
written  shortly  before  his  execution :  "  Take  Mark,  and 
bring  him  with  thee ;  for  he  is  profitable  to  me  for  the  min- 
istry."! These  allusions,  after  all  that  had  occurred,  are 
equally  creditable  to  both  parties.  They  show  that  Mark 
had  grown  steady  and  brave,  and  was  not  above  ministering 
to  Paul  j  and  they  prove  that  Paul  was  not  so  mean  as  to 
keep  up  an  old  grudge,  when  all  that  caused  it  had  been 
perfectly  removed. 

And  now  what  more  can  be  said  on  this  sad  subject.? 
Luke,  under  divine  inspiration,  impartially  narrates  the  his- 
tory ;  but  he  gives  no  apportionment  of  blame  to  either 
party,  and  it  would  be  dangerous  for  me  to  venture  on  such 
invidious  ground.  Thus  much,  however,  I  may  say  without 
fear  of  being  accounted  either  presumptuous  or  censorious : 
there  were  faults  on  both  sides.  Judging  from  what  had 
gone  before,  Paul  cannot  be  condemned  for  refusing  to  be 
again  associated  with  Mark ;  but  judging  from  what  fol- 
lowed, Barnabas  was  amply  vindicated  for  desiring  that  he 
should  be  taken  with  them.     Though  we  must  admit  that 


*  I  Cor.  ix..6.  t  Col.  iv.,  10.  %  2  Tim.  iv.,  11. 


2  00  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Paul's  sternness  was  one  of  the  means  which  helped  to  dis- 
cipline Mark  into  strength,  yet  we  cannot  help  feeling  that 
the  great  apostle  was  just  a  little  too  intolerant  of  weak- 
ness. Barnabas,  again,  may  have  allowed  his  relationship 
to  Mark  unduly  to  influence  his  opinion.  If  the  one  was 
too  stern,  the  other  may  have  been  too  indulgent.  The 
sternness  of  Paul,  if  it  had  not  been  softened  by  the  tender- 
ness of  Barnabas,  might  have  driven  Mark  away  from  Chris- 
tian work  altogether.  The  leniency  of  Barnabas,  if  it  had 
not  been  corrected  by  the  sternness  of  Paul,  might  have 
made  Mark  an  utter  weakling.  But,  as  it  happened,  the 
two  wrought  together  under  the  providence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  tempered  him  into  strength. 

But  whatever  may  be  said  about  their  treatment  of  Mark, 
we  may  affirm  that  there  w^as  no  occasion  for  any  angry 
altercation  about  him.  As  we  think  of  two  such  men  thus 
falling  out  with  each  other,  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  we 
are  more  sorry  or  surprised.  We  mourn  that  these  good 
and  great  men  should  have  been  thus  easily  provoked.  We 
are  surprised  that  Paul  should  have  for  the  moment  forgot- 
ten the  kindness  of  Barnabas  to  him  when  he  introduced 
him  to  the  apostles  at  Jerusalem,  and  his  brotherly  appre- 
ciation of  his  ability,  when,  at  a  later  day,  he  went  to  Tarsus 
to  secure  his  services  as  a  helper  in  the  Gospel.  Nor  are 
we  less  astonished  that  Barnabas,  the  son  of  consolation, 
should  have  been  here  so  violent.  Surely  we  have  seen 
"an  end  of  all  perfection,"  when  such  men  thus  sinfully 
dispute. 

But,  not  to  dwell  on  the  dark  side  of  the  subject,  let  us 
take  note  of  some  mitigating  elements  in  this  contention. 
It  will  be  observed,  then,  that  the  dispute  arose  from  a  dif- 
ference of  opinion  about  the  best  means  of  carrying  on 
Christ's  work.  Had  Paul  cared  less  for  Jesus  and  his  cause, 
he  would  not  have  been  so  vehement ;   and,  on  the  other 


The  Two  Contentions.  201 

hand,  if  Barnabas  had  been  less  concerned  for  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  Mark,  he  would  have  been  less  persistent.  There- 
fore, although  there  was  sin  in  the  quarrel,  still  the  very 
origin  of  the  contention  showed  that  it  was  the  dispute  of 
Christian  men. 

Again,  let  it  be  remarked  that  they  took  ultimately  the 
best  means  of  deciding  the  controversy.  As  when  the  herd- 
men  of  Abram  and  Lot  fell  out,  the  agreement  proposed  by 
the  former  was,  "  If  thou  wilt  take  the  left  hand,  then  I  will 
go  to  the  right,"*  so  here  Barnabas  went  with  Mark  to 
Cyprus,  and  Paul  proceeded  with  Silas  to  Cilicia. 

Still  further,  we  must  not  forget  that  this  dispute  did  not 
permanently  estrange  them  from  each  other.  Commonly, 
indeed,  it  is  with  friendship  as  with  crockery,  which,  when 
broken,  may  be  mended,  but  the  crack  remains ;  and  I  am 
not  prepared  to  say  that  all  evidence  of  the  crack  was  re- 
moved even  in  this  case ;  but  when  the  heat  of  the  conten- 
tion was  over,  they  acknowledged  each  other's  excellence  as 
frankly  as  ever,  and  if  the  reputation  of  Barnabas  had  been 
assailed,  he  would  have  found  no  more  zealous  defender 
than  Paul ;  while,  if  Paul  had  been  attacked,  Barnabas  would 
have  been  among  the  first  to  stand  up  in  his  behalf. 

It  is  easy  to  see,  finally,  how  even  this  contention  was 
overruled  for  the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel,  so  that  now 
there  were  four  laborers  in  the  field  instead  of  three.  Thus, 
"  God  maketh  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,  and  the  re- 
mainder thereof  he  doth  restrain." 

In  a  former  discourse,  while  speaking  of  the  defection  of 
Mark,  I  took  occasion  to  warn  young  disciples  against  stum- 
bling on  the  threshold  of  their  Christian  career,  lest  their 
instability  should  alienate  older  and  better  men  from  each 
other ;  and  I  pointed  out  the  necessity  of  mingling  gentle- 

*  Gen.  xiii.,  9. 


202  Paul  the  Missionary. 

ness  with  severity  if  we  would  win  back  the  erring  one  to 
the  right  path.  To-night,  therefore,  I  will  content  myself 
with  drawing  one  practical  lesson  from  this  painful  chapter 
of  apostolic  history;  and  it  shall  be  this:  let  us  take  care 
lest  differences  in  little  things,  involving  personal  prefer- 
ences, should  cause  angry  altercations  and  painful  separa- 
tions between  valued  friends.  In  the  great  discussion  with 
Peter,  which  had  a  bearing  on  the  fundamental  principle  of 
the  Gospel,  there  was  no  paroxysm  of  passion ;  but  in  this 
little  dispute  about  Mark  between  Paul  and  Barnabas,  there 
was.  On  public  occasions  of  importance  there  is  compara- 
tively little  danger,  for  the  gravity  of  the  issue  is  then  clear- 
ly seen,  and  men  prepare  themselves  for  the  discussion  by 
prayer;  while  all  through  they  hold  themselves  in,  as  it  were, 
"with  bit  and  bridle."  But  in  small  personal  encounters 
the  peril  is  immensely  increased  ;  for  then  all  parties  are  off 
their  guard,  minor  considerations  of  relationship  or  interest 
come  into  operation,  and,  before  the  disputants  are  aware, 
the  debate  becomes  a  wrangle,  Satan  is  in  the  midst  of  them, 
and  sets  them  all  by  the  ears.  If  I  had  my  choice,  I  would 
rather  see  a  controversy  spring  up  in  a  church  about  some 
great  central  doctrine  than  about  some  question  of  paltry 
detail  of  arrangement  or  of  pitiful  personality;  for  there 
would  be  less  likelihood  in  the  one  case  than  in  the  other 
of  an  angry  and  acrimonious  debate.  ''  Little  sticks  kindle 
great  fires."  The  flame  that  would  die  out  before  it  could 
set  fire  to  a  log  will  easily  ignite  a  chip,  and  that  may  have 
strength  enough  to  kindle  a  fagot  that  will  at  length  set 
the  log  in  a  blaze.  Take  care,  therefore,  especially  in  little 
things,  lest  temper  should  explode,  and  make  a  painful  sep- 
aration between  you  and  your  friend.  Admirably  has  the 
poet  said  : 

"  Alas  !  how  light  a  cause  may  move 
Dissension  between  those  that  love. 


The  Two  Contentions.  203 

Hearts  that  the  world  in  vain  had  tried, 

And  sorrow  but  more  closely  tied ; 

That  stood  the  storm  when  waves  were  rough, 

Yet  in  a  sunny  hour  fall  off. 

Like  ships  that  have  gone  down  at  sea 

When  heaven  was  all  tranquillity. 

A  something  light  as  air,  a  look, 

A  word  unkind,  or  wrongly  taken — 

Oh  !  love  that  tempests  never  shook, 

A  breath,  a  touch  like  this  hath  shaken  !" 

May  God  grant  that  none  of  us  may  ever  in  any  way  furnish 
another  illustration  of  these  lines  ! 


XI. 

THE  SECOND  MISSIONARY  BAND. 

Acts  xv.,  41 ;  xvi.,  11. 

ACCOMPANIED  by  Silas,  Paul  went  from  Antioch 
through  Syria  and  Cilicia,  confirming  the  churches  ev- 
erywhere by  the  publication  of  the  Jerusalem  decree,  and 
by  seasonable  instructions.  We  have  no  record  of  the 
places  which  he  visited  at  this  time,  but  it  is  hardly  likely 
that  Tarsus  would  be  overlooked  ;  and  we  are  permitted  to 
dwell  in  imagination  on  the  pleasure  with  which  he  would 
be  received  by  the  people  among  whom  he  had  formerly 
labored,  in  those  days  of  unrecognition  ere  yet  Barnabas 
had  come  to  carry  him  away  to  Antioch. 

From  Cilicia  he  passed  up  through  the  mountain  range 
of  Taurus  by  the  famous  Gates,  which  was  the  name  given 
to  a  wild  and  rocky  pathway  resembling  one  of  those  Alpine 
passes  between  Switzerland  and  Italy,  over  which  annually 
so  many  tourists  travel  with  a  strange  commingling  of  as- 
tonishment, admiration,  and  terror.  According  to  Howson,* 
the  journey  by  this  route  from  Tarsus  to  Iconium  is  enough, 
in  modern  times,  to  take  up  four  laborious  days  ;  and  though 
the  road  was  probably  more  carefully  maintained  by  the  Ro- 
man Government  than  it  is  now,  the  number  of  days  required 
for  its  passage  could  never  have  been  much  smaller.  On 
his  former  visit  to  this  central  region,  Paul  went  from  Perga 
to  Antioch,  and  thence  to  Lycaonia.     Then  he  approached 

*  Vol.  i.,  280. 


The  Second  Missionary  Band.  205 

the  district  last  named  from  the  east,  but  now  he  came  upon 
it  from  the  west ;  and  that  is  tlie  reason  why,  in  the  narra- 
tive of  this  second  journey,  the  towns  visited  are  named  in 
the  reverse  order  to  that  in  which  they  were  taken  before. 
In  the  fourteenth  chapter  we  have  first  Iconium,  then  Lystra, 
and  then  Derbe  ;  but  now  Derbe  is  first,  then  Lystra,  and 
then  Iconium.  No  doubt  the  brethren  in  all  these  places 
would  have  many  questions  to  ask  concerning  Paul's  own 
experiences  since  he  had  been  among  them,  concerning  Bar- 
nabas, his  former  colleague,  and  concerning  the  controversy 
in  which  he  had  been  engaged,  and  the  manner  in  which  it 
had  been  settled  by  the  conference  at  Jerusalem.  We  may 
be  sure,  also,  that  they  were  much  refreshed  by  Paul's  fel- 
lowship and  exhortations,  and  by  the  cheering  assurance 
which  Silas  gave  that  they  were  regarded  with  brotherly 
affection  by  the  apostles  and  elders  of  the  Jewish  Church. 
But  none  of  these  things  are  here  narrated ;  because  this 
journey,  in  its  influence  on  the  personal  histoiy  of  Paul,  was 
chiefly  memorable  for  the  fact  that  now  for  the  first  time 
Timothy  was  associated  with  him  in  that  tender  and  endear- 
ing companionship  which  continued,  with  but  few  and  brief 
interruptions,  until  the  day  when  he  passed  through  the  flam- 
ing gate  of  martyrdom  into  the  celestial  city. 

Here,  therefore,  it  may  be  convenient  to  intermit  for  a 
little  the  main  history  on  the  consideration  of  which  we  are 
engaged,  while  we  attempt  to  bring  together  all  that  the  New 
Testament  gives  of  biographical  detail  concerning  one  who 
was  for  so  many  years  in  such  close  fellowship  with  our  be- 
loved apostle.  He  was  already  a  disciple  at  the  time  of 
this  third  visit  made  by  Paul  to  Lycaonia;  and,  as  the  apos- 
tle calls  him  elsewhere  his  "own  son  in  the  faith,"* we  con- 
clude that  on  the  occasion  of  his  first  visit  to  that  region 

*  I  Tim.  i.,  ^. 


2o6  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Paul  had  been  instrumental  in  his  conversion.  He  was  the 
son  of  a  Jewess  named  Eunice,  who  was  also  a  convert  to 
Christianity,  but  his  father  was  a  Gentile.  Some  have  sup- 
posed that  his  father  was  a  proselyte  to  the  Jewish  faith, 
while,  from  the  silence  of  the  historian  regarding  him,  others 
have  conjectured  that  he  had  died  before  Paul  came  into 
contact  with  his  son.  If  he  was  alive,  he  certainly  could 
not  have  been  a  Jewish  proselyte,  or  in  any  sense  an  ad- 
mirer of  the  Mosaic  law,  otherwise  he  would  not  have  neg- 
lected the  initiatory  rite  of  Judaism  in  the  case  of  his  son. 
I  rather  think  that  he  was  a  careless  Gentile,  who  had 
no  deep  religious  convictions  of  any  sort,  and  who  could 
have,  therefore,  no  very  positive  influence  for  good  on  the 
training  of  his  son  ;  but  if  that  were  true,  his  lack  of  service 
was  supplied  by  the  piety  of  his  wife.  Judging,  indeed,  from 
the  fact  that  she  had  entered  into  one  of  those  mixed  mar- 
riages which  w^ere  forbidden  to  the  Jews,  we  are  compelled 
to  acknowledge  that  in  her  maidenhood  she  had  in  some 
degree  fallen  away  from  her  allegiance  to  the  God  of  her 
fathers ;  but  the  birth  of  her  boy  may  have  made  her  more 
thoughtful  on  religious  matters.  Her  motherhood,  as  in  the 
case  of  multitudes  besides  her,  may  have  developed  the  spir- 
itual side  of  her  nature,  and  for  her  son's  sake  she  may  have 
begun  to  cultivate  that  personal  religion  which  perhaps  she 
had  too  largely  neglected  for  her  own. 

But  however  she  was  led  to  take  an  interest  in  the  instruc- 
tion of  her  son,  she  was  effectually  assisted  in  her  efforts  to 
train  him  in  the  right  path  by  her  mother,  Lois,  who  seems 
to  have  lived  with  her;  and  there  are  few  more  charming 
pictures  of  pious  home  life  than  that  which  is  suggested  to 
our  imaginations  by  the  words  of  Paul  long  afterward  to 
Timothy,*  "  I  call  to  remembrance  the  unfeigned  faith  that 

*  2  Tim.  i.,  5. 


The  Second  Missionary  Band.  207 

is  in  thee,  which  dwelt  first  in  thy  grandmother  Lois,  and 
thy  mother  Eunice  ;  and  I  am  persuaded  that  in  thee  also  ;" 
and  again,"^  "  From  a  child  thou  hast  known  the  holy  Script- 
ures, which  are  able  to  make  thee  wise  unto  salvation."  In 
the  chimney  of  the  room  where  the  little  fragile  Philip  Dod- 
dridge usually  sat  with  his  mother,  there  was  a  series  of 
Dutch  tiles  representing  the  principal  events  of  Scriptural 
history.  "  In  bright  blue,  on  a  ground  of  glistering  white, 
were  pictures  of  the  serpent  in  the  tree,  of  Noah  building 
his  great  ship,  of  Elisha's  bears  devouring  the  youths,  and 
of  all  the  outstanding  incidents  of  holy  writ ;  and  when 
the  frost  made  the  fire  burn  clear,  and  the  little  Philip  was 
snug  in  the  arm-chair  beside  his  mother,  it  was  endless  joy 
to  hear  the  stories  that  lurked  in  the  painted  porcelain. 
That  m.other  could  not  foresee  the  outgoings  of  her  early 
lesson  ;  but  when  the  little  boy  had  become  a  famous  divine, 
and  was  publishing  the  '  Family  Expositor,'  he  could  not  for- 
get the  nursery  Bible  in  the  chimney  tiles."t  So  I  picture 
to  myself  the  boy  Timothy  standing  by  his  grandmother's 
knee,  and  looking  up  with  eager  eyes  into  her  face  as  she 
told  him  those  matchless  stories  which  seem  to  have  been 
preserved  in  this  book  for  the  very  purpose  of  interesting 
the  young  in  its  pages ;  and  which,  besides  the  merit  of  their 
unquestionable  truth,  fill  and  expand  the  imagination,  con- 
vey many  valuable  lessons,  and  give  reality  as  well  as  gran- 
deur to  a  child's  idea  of  God.  The  history  of  Joseph  and 
his  brethren ;  the  finding  of  the  baby  Moses  by  the  edge  of 
the  Nile ;  the  dividing  of  the  Red  Sea ;  the  giving  of  the 
law  from  Sinai ;  the  passage  of  the  Jordan ;  the  taking  of 
Jericho  ;  the  boyhood  of  Samuel ;  the  duel  between  David 
and  Goliath ;  Daniel's  firmness  and  deliverance — these  and 


*  2  Tim.  iii.,  15. 

t  *'  Our  Chnstian  Classics,"  by  James  Hamilton,  D.D,,  vol.  iii.,  p.  365. 


2o8  Paul  the  Missionary. 

other  narratives,  as  interesting  as  they  are  instructive,  would 
be  told  with  reverence  to  this  eager  child ;  and  as  she  went 
on,  the  very  fact  that  she  was  now  among  the  heathen,  so 
far  from  the  land  of  her  fathers  and  the  temple  of  her  God, 
would  fill  her  soul  with  such  earnestness  that  her  words 
would  take  fire,  and  fall  with  kindling  enthusiasm  into  the 
heart  of  Timothy.  Now  and  again  both  would  turn  and  re- 
fer to  the  "house-mother"  for  some  forgotten  incident,  or 
some  desired  explanation ;  and  thus  the  three  would  grow 
into  each  other,  and  these  lessons  from  the  sacred  oracles 
would  lay  up  memories  that  would  be  fragrant  all  through 
their  earthly  lives — ay,  memories  that  are  fresh  and  holy 
yet,  as  they  are  together  before  the  eternal  throne.  That 
mother  and  grandmother  knew  not  all  they  were  doing  in 
these  sacred  hours.  Perhaps  at  times  they  were  apt  to 
grow  despondent;  and,  brooding  over  their  isolation  among 
the  heathen,  they  might  often  think  that  they  were  doing 
little  or  nothing  to  purpose  for  the  Lord;  but  they  were  pre- 
paring Timothy  for  his  life-work  as  an  evangelist,  and  now 
the  lustre  of  his  crown  reflects  a  glory  upon  their  faces. 
Nor  is  this  a  solitary  case.  The  day  alone  will  declare 
how  many  who  have  done  yeoman's  service  in  the  cause  of 
Christ  have  been  thus  prepared  by  a  mother's  influence  for 
their  after  triumphs  ;  and  many  a  venerable  Lois,  while  re- 
ceiving the  filial  kindness  of  a  daughter,  has  been  the  means 
of  bringing  priceless  blessings  to  her  grandchildren.  The 
very  presence  in  a  household  of  such  a  one,  whose  wisdom 
is  like  a  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Proverbs,  and  whose  weak- 
ness is  a  constant  call  for  affection  and  self-sacrifice,  is  it- 
self a  training  of  the  highest  order  to  the  children.  There 
are  few  teachers  more  affectionate  and  influential  than  a 
grandmother  ;  and  in  the  Lois  to  whom  Timothy  was  so 
much  indebted  I  see  the  prototype  of  many  who  have  been 
loving  professors  in   that  home  seminary,  where  God  has 


The  Second  Missionary  Band.  209 

educated  some  of  his  most  eminent  servants.  Over  one  of 
these,  taken  from  my  own  household,  the  grave  closed  but 
two  days  ago ;  and,  with  her  memory  so  fresh  within  me,  I 
can  the  better  appreciate  the  services  of  Lois  here.* 

This  mother  and  her  daughter,  then,  were  among  those 
spiritual  Jews  who  were  "  waiting  for  the  consolation  of  Is- 
rael." Like  Simeon,  and  Anna,  and  the  guileless  Nathaniel, 
they  loved  the  law  of  the  Lord.  It  was  their  study  and  their 
delight ;  and  so  they  were  in  a  measure  prepared  for  the 
Gospel  before  it  was  proclaimed  to  them.  Thus  they  were 
among  the  earliest  of  Paul's  Lycaonian  converts.  But  dur- 
ing the  interval  between  Paul's  first  and  second  missionary 
journeys,  Timothy  seems  to  have  come  into  some  sort  of 
prominence  among  the  brethren,  for  he  was  known  not  only 
at  Lystra,  but  also  at  Iconium.f  The  words  of  the  historian 
are,  "which  was  w^ell  reported  of  " — literally  "  who  was  borne 
witness  to "' — by  the  brethren ;  and  they  may  refer  either 
to  the  general  testimony  that  was  given  to  his  character,  or 
to  what  Paul  has  called  elsewhere,$  "the  prophecies  which 
went  before  concerning  him."  I  am  disposed  to  regard  the 
latter  as  the  true  meaning.  During  Paul's  absence,  or  per- 
haps at  the  very  time  of  this  third  visit  to  Lystra,  the  breth- 
ren who  had  received  the  gift  of  prophecy  did,  by  inspira- 
tion of  the  Holy  Ghost,  point  out  Timothy  as  one  admirably 
fitted  for  the  work  of  the  ministry.  These  testimonies  deep- 
ly moved  the  heart  of  the  apostle,  who  v/as  longing  for  some 
one  who  should  be  to  him  what  Mark,  if  he  had  been  stead- 
fast, might  have  become  ;  and  so  he  determined  to  take 
Timothy  with  him  as  his  companion.  He  was  not,  indeed,  a 
man  cast  at  all  in  the  same  mould  as  Paul.     Brought  up,  as 

*  I  leave  these  words  as  they  were  written,  that  they  may  be  a  per- 
manent memorial  of  one  who  dwelt  under  my  roof  for  a  score  of  happy 
years. 

t  Acts  xvi.,  2.  t  I  Tim.  i.,  18. 


2IO  Paul  the  Missionary. 

we  have  seen  he  was,  mainly  by  his  mother  and  his  grand- 
mother, his  piety  retained  through  Hfe  something  of  a  fem- 
inine delicacy.  He  lacked  the  stern  and  rugged  robustness 
of  the  man  of  Tarsus.  His  nature  was  emotional  rather 
than  intellectual  ;  and,  far  from  being  at  home  in  such  ex- 
citing scenes  as  those  in  which  Paul  so  conspicuously  shone, 
he  courted  retirement,  and  sought  to  keep  himself  from  the 
antagonism  of  others.  But  probably  it  was  this  very  dis- 
similarity to  himself  that  attracted  Paul  in  Timothy.  We 
often  see  that  friendship  of  the  closest  kind  subsists  be- 
tween those  who  are  very  unlike  each  other ;  and  the  rea- 
son is,  because  the  one  finds  in  the  other  the  qualities  in 
which  he  is  himself  defective.  Now,  somehow  thus  it  must 
have  been  with  Paul  and  Timothy.  They  were  bound  to 
each  other  by  the  fact  that  they  supplemented  each  other — 
that  which  was  strongest  in  the  one  going  to  sustain  that 
which  was  weakest  in  the  other.  The  aged  apostle  leaned 
on  the  youth  of  the  evangelist,  and  the  young  minister  must 
have  drawn  largely  on  the  rich  stores  of  Paul's  experience 
for  guidance  amid  perplexities.  The  gentleness  of  Timothy 
gave  a  shading  to  the  sternness  of  Paul,  even  as  the  soft 
lichens  lend  a  beauty  to  the  rock  which  they  fringe.  And 
the  unflinching  fortitude  of  Paul  gave  courage  to  the  soul 
of  Timothy  when  he  was  called  to  endure  persecution ;  even 
as  the  oak  holds  up  amid  the  storm  the  ivy  which  has  twined 
around  its  trunk.  Beautiful  exceedingly  was  their  devotion 
to  each  other.  On  the  one  hand,  fatherly,  I  might  almost 
say  motherly,  solicitude,  not  only  for  the  piety  and  minis- 
terial efficiency  of  Timothy,  but  also  for  his  bodily  health ; 
on  the  other  filial  tenderness  and  affectionate  reverence  for 
Paul,  coupled  with  constancy  even  in  the  most  dangerous 
circumstances.  They  were  never  absent  from  each  other 
without  longing  for  the  time  when  they  should  be  reunited ; 
and  history  has  no  more  touching  story  than  that  which  tells 


The  Second  Missionary  Band.  211 

of  the  aged  prisoner  at  Rome  writing  to  his  young  friend, 
"  Do  thy  dlHgence  to  come  shortly  unto  me ;"  and  again, 
"Do  thy  diligence  to  come  before  winter;"*  or  of  the 
young  man  hastening  to  the  Imperial  City  to  cheer  the  last 
moments  of  his  much-loved  friend.  Like  the  young  Knox 
attending  on  the  martyr  Wishart,  Timothy  was  a  minister 
to  Paul,  all  the  more  valuable  because  his  lustre,  therein 
like  that  of  the  satellite  that  waits  upon  our  earth,  became 
brightest  in  the  hours  of  darkness. 

Three  things,  however,  Paul  did  with  Timothy  before  he 
took  him  formally  as  his  companion.    First :  "  he  took  and  cir- 
cumcised him  because  of  the  Jews  which  were  in  those  quar- 
ters :  for  they  knew  all  that  his  father  was  a  Greek."t     At 
first  sight  this  action  on  the  part  of  the  apostle  appears  to 
be  inconsistent  with  the  stand  which  he  took  at  Jerusalem 
and  Antioch.     "How  is  it,"  we  are  disposed  to  ask,  "that 
he  refused  to  allow  Titus  to  be  circumcised,  while  he  yields 
in  the  case  of  Timothy  ?      Is  there  not  here  a  vacillation 
as  great  as  that  which  he  so  emphatically  condemned  in 
Peter  ?"     But  when  we  look  again,  we  discover  that,  though 
the  ritual  act  of  circumcision  is  involved  in  both  cases,  the 
circumstances  of  the  two  were  entirely  different.     The  con- 
troversy at  Antioch  turned  on  the  question  whether  or  not 
Gentile  believers  should  be  required  to  submit  to  circum- 
cision as  a  thing  essential  to  their  salvation.     There  had 
been  no  debate  about  the  propriety  of  the  Jews  continuing  to 
observe  the  law  of  Moses,  provided  they  did  not  seek  to  im- 
pose it  upon  others.     Now  Titus  was  a  Gentile,  and  because 
his  circumcision  was  insisted  upon  as  something  necessary 
to  his  salvation,  Paul  resisted  that  demand ;  but  Timothy  was 
a  Jew  by  the  mother's  side,  and,  according  to  the  common 
law  of  the  time  that  the  son  followed  the  mother,  he  was  re- 

*  2  Tim.  iv.,  9,  21.  t  Acts  xvi.,  3. 


212  Paul  the  Missionary. 

garded  as  virtually  a  Jew.  Hence  his  circumcision  was  not 
the  yielding  of  any  principle  so  far  as  the  Gentiles  were  con- 
cerned, while  it  would  remove  the  prejudices  of  Jews  against 
him,  and  open  for  him  a  wider  door  of  usefulness  than  oth- 
erwise he  could  have  entered.  Again,  the  circumcision  of 
Titus  had  been  demanded  as  an  essential  thing  by  the  Ju- 
daizing  party ;  that  of  Timothy,  however,  was  not  insisted 
upon  by  anybody,  but  was  done  by  Paul  on  his  own  respon- 
sibility, merely  to  remove  a  sentimental  objection  which  Jews 
might  have  to  him,  and  which  might  prevent  them  from  prof- 
iting by  his  ministrations.  Thus  we  learn  that  the  same 
outward  act  may  become  either  a  wrong  to  be  resisted,  or  a 
matter  of  prudence  to  be  performed,  according  to  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  we  are  placed.  Mark,  however,  that 
this  is  true  only  of  things  which  are  in  themselves  indiffer- 
ent, and  cannot  hold  of  those  which  are  either  good  or  evil 
in  their  own  nature. 

Second  :  Paul  conferred  on  Timothy  the  miraculous  gifts 
of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  for  he  says  to  him,  "  Stir  up  the  gift  of 
God,  which  is  in  thee  by  the  putting  on  of  my  hands."*  This 
was  a  personal  benefit  bestowed  by  the  apostle  on  his  com- 
panion by  the  will  of  God. 

Third :  this  private  endowment  was  followed  by  a  public 
service  at  which  Timothy  was  ordained  to  the  office  of  the 
ministry :  for, beyond  all  controversy,  that  is  what  Paul  means 
when  he  says,t  "  Neglect  not  the  gift  that  is  in  thee,  which 
was  given  thee  by  prophecy"  (that  is,  according  to  the 
prophecy  which  pointed  thee  out  for  it),  "  with  the  laying  on 
of  the  hands  of  the  presbytery  "  or  company  of  elders.  The 
former  gift  was  a  personal  possession.  This  was  a  public 
and  official  recognition.  Thus  Paul  did  all  things  "  decent- 
ly and  in  order."     Apostle  though  he  was,  he  did  not  take 

*  2  Tim.  i.,  6.  t  i  Tim.  iv.,  14. 


The  Second  IMissionary  Band. 


213 


it  upon  himself  to  ordain  Timothy ;  but  he  let  that  act  be 
performed  by  the  Church  through  its  eldership ;  and  so, 
wherever  he  went,  Timothy  carried  within  him  the  qualifica- 
tions imparted  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  upon  him  the  sanc- 
tion given  him  by  the  Church.  These  are  the  two  essen- 
tials to  the  office  of  the  ministry.  The  disregard  of  the  first 
leads  to  inefficiency ;  the  neglect  of  the  second  issues  in 
disorder ;  in  the  union  of  the  two  will  be  found  the  best 
safeguard  for  the  purity  of  the  pulpit,  the  effectiveness  of 
the  ministry,  and  the  permanence  of  the  Church. 

After  having  visited  all  the  churches  formerly  planted 
in  this  upland  district  of  Lycaonia,  Paul  and  Silas  entered 
upon  new  ground  in  Phrygia  and  Galatia.  In  the  former 
province,  whose  boundaries  cannot  now  be  easily  defined, 
the  city  of  Colosse  was  situated,  as  also  were  those  of  Hi- 
eraiDolis  and  Laodicea.  In  each  of  these  places  mention  is 
made  at  a  later  date  of  flourishing  churches;  but  they  could 
not  have  been  founded  by  Paul,  for  in  his  letter  to  the  Co- 
lossians  he  refers  to  the  brethren  in  all  these  three  cities 
as  not  having  seen  his  face  in  the  flesh.*  We  cannot,  there- 
fore, agree  with  those  who  suppose  that  they  were  visited  by 
him  on  this  occasion,  although  Pressense''st  conjecture  may 
be  correct  that  Epaphras  may  have  come  with  him  from  An- 
tioch,  and  may  have  been  detailed  by  him  for  the  special 
service  of  introducing  the  Gospel  to  these  places. 

The  province  of  Galatia  had  in  it  some  important  cities, 
of  which  the  three  principal  were  Pessinus,  Ancyra,  and  Ta- 
vium,  in  all  of  which  it  is  likely  that  churches  were  at  this 
time  formed.  The  population  of  this  region  was  of  a  com- 
posite description.  First,  there  were  the  descendants  of  the 
Gauls,  who  somewhere  about  three  hundred  years  before  the 
birth  of  Christ  had  invaded  Asia  Minor,  and  were  at  length 

*  Col.  ii.,  I.  t  "  Early  Years  of  Christianity,"  pp.  147,  148. 


214  Paul  the  Missionary. 

overcome  by  Attalus  of  Pergamus,  who  hemmed  them  in 
within  the  comparatively  narrow  limits  of  the  province 
which  was  called  by  their  name.  These  retained  the  pecu- 
liarities which  even  till  this  day  have  kept  such  persistent 
hold  of  all  the  branches  of  the  Celtic  race.  Next  there 
were  the  genuine  Phrygians,  w^ho  were  devoted  to  the  idola- 
try of  Bacchus  and  Cybele.  Then  came  the  Greek  colonists, 
who  carried  with  them  their  language,  their  culture,  and 
their  philosophy.  To  these  must  be  added  a  large  Jewish  el- 
ement, of  which  a  part  may  have  been  descended  from  those 
Jews  whom  Antiochus  settled  in  Phrj'gia,  and  a  part  may 
have  been  attracted  by  the  facilities  which  Galatia  afforded 
for  commercial  enterprise.  Each  of  these  classes  brought 
its  own  deposit,  and  contributed  it  to  the  formation  of  the 
national  character ;  but  the  dominating  qualities  were  those 
of  the  Gauls.  The  rugged  external  features  of  the  half-bar- 
barous Europeans  had  yielded  somewhat  to  the  enervating 
influences  of  the  effeminate  Phrygian  climate  ;  but  beneath 
the  surface  they  were  Celtic  still,  and  were  distinguished  by 
eager  restlessness,  shallow  vivacity,  short-lived  enthusiasm, 
and  that  "  unreliable  fickleness  "  which  Julius  Caesar  found 
in  his  Gallic  allies  and  antagonists.  Indeed,  one  cannot  read 
Paul's  letter  to  these  churches  without  being  reminded  that 
the  Galatians  were  the  kinsmen  of  those  whom  the  great 
Roman  general  has  described  as  "  fickle  in  taking  up  plans, 
fond  of  innovating,  and  utterly  untrustworthy."  When  Paul 
visited  them  on  this  occasion  he  was  suffering  from  some 
severe  bodily  afiliction — probably  from  an  unusually  acute 
attack  of  that  chronic  malady  which  he  has  elsewhere  called 
his  "  thorn  in  the  flesh  ;"*  for  in  his  letter  he  speaks  of 
haying  preached  to  them  at  first  "  through  infirmity  of  the 
flesh."t     Put  the   effect  of  his  weakness  was   to  elicit  the 

*  2  Cor.  xii.,  7.  t  Gal.  iv.,  13. 


The  Second  Missionary  Band.  215 

sympathy  and  kindness  of  his  hearers ;  for  he  represents 
them  as  neither  despising  nor  rejecting  his  trial,  but  as  re- 
ceiving him  as  if  he  had  been  an  angel  of  the  Lord  ;  nay,  as 
if  he  had  been  Christ  himself.*  Such  had  been  their  eager- 
ness to  help  him,  that  he  bears  them  record  that,  if  it  had 
been  possible,  they  would  have  plucked  out  their  own  eyes 
and  given  them  to  him.  His  preaching  among  them  had 
been  a  setting  forth  before  their  eyes  of  Jesus  Christ  as 
evidently  crucified  among  them  ;j  and,  as  Lightfoot  has  said, 
"If  we  picture  to  ourselves  the  apostle  as  he  appeared  be- 
fore the  Galatians,  a  friendless  outcast,  writhing  under  the 
tortures  of  a  painful  malady,  yet  instant  in  season  and  out 
of  season,  by  turns  denouncing  and  entreating,  appealing  to 
the  agonies  of  a  crucified  Saviour,  perhaps  also,  as  at  Lys- 
tra,  enforcing  this  appeal  by  some  striking  miracle,  we  shall 
be  at  no  loss  to  conceive  how  the  fervid  temperament  of  the 
Gaul  might  have  been  aroused,  while  yet  only  the  surface  of 
his  spiritual  consciousness  was  ruffied."1: 

From  Galatia,  Paul  and  his  two  companions  wished  to  go 
to  the  region  of  Asia  properly  so  called,  which  consisted  of 
the  provinces  of  Lycia,  Mysia,  and  Caria;  but,  either  by  some 
prophetic  utterance  or  by  some  providential  hinderance, 
they  were  kept  from  carrying  out  their  desire.  They  turned, 
therefore,  to  Bithynia ;  but  neither  were  they  allowed  to  tar- 
ry there.  So  they  went  to  Troas,  where  they  were  in  the 
very  heart  of  that  region  which  the  father  of  poetry  has 
made  classic  by  the  "  Iliad  ;"  but  no  notice  is  taken  here  of 
that.  The  city  was  a  port  of  departure  for  Europe,  and  their 
coming  to  it  may  be  taken  as  an  indication  that  already 
they  had  some  idea  of  crossing  the  Archipelago,  though  it 
had  uot  yet  taken  definite   shape  within  their  souls.     Not 

*  Gal.iv.,  14,  15.  t  Gal.  iii.,  i. 

I  "  Lightfoot  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,"  p.  24. 
10 


2i6  Paul  the  Missionary. 

long,  however,  were  they  suffered  to  remain  in  uncertainty; 
for  "  a  vision  appeared  to  Paul  in  the  night ;  there  stood  a 
man  of  Macedonia,  and  prayed  him,  saying,  Come  over  into 
Macedonia,  and  help  us."  This  settled  the  matter ;  and  so 
they  took  ship  immediately,  and  running  across  the  ^gean, 
taking  Samothracia  in  their  course,  they  landed  at  Neapolis. 
I  call  your  attention  to  a  change  in  the  manner  of  the 
narrator,  in  the  tenth  verse  of  this  sixteenth  chapter  of  his 
history,  which  indicates  that  Luke,  the  author  of  this  book, 
first  joined  the  company  of  the  apostle  at  Troas.  We  read 
as  follows  :  "And  after  he  had  seen  the  vision,  immediately 
we  endeavored  to  go  into  Macedonia."  Heretofore  he  had 
used  the  third  personal  pronoun  ;  but  from  this  point  on, 
with  certain  short  intervals  which  wall  be  marked  by  us  as 
we  come  upon  them,  he  employs  the  first,  including  himself 
with  those  of  whom  he  writes.  From  the  peculiarity  of  his 
name,  Luke  seems  to  have  been  a  Gentile.  Tradition  has 
alleged,  but  without  any  absolute  authority,*  that  he  was  a 
native  of  Antioch;  and  from  the  fact  that  he  was  a  phy- 
sician, some  have  inferred  that  he  was  a  freedman,  since 
among  the  Romans  the  study  of  medicine  was  generally  left 
to  slaves,  many  of  whom  were  very  skilful.  That  he  had 
received  a  liberal  education,  is  apparent  from  the  style  of 
the  original,  both  of  his  gospel  and  of  this  history.  How  he 
came  to  connect  himself  with  Paul,  we  are  nowhere  inform- 
ed. Probably  they  had  met  before  at  Antioch,  and  perhaps 
Luke,  pitying  Paul's  liability  to  illness,  may  have  wished  to 
accompany  him,  and  mitigate  as  far  as  he  could  the  suffer- 
ings which  his  malady  occasioned.  We  know,  at  least,  that 
he  loved  the  Lord,  and  the  servant  for  the  Lord's  sake  ;  and 


*  See  on  this  point  "Dissertation  on  the  Life  and  Writings  of  St. 
Luke,"  in  "  The  Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul,"  by  James  Smith, 
Esq.,  pp.  4-9. 


The  Second  Missionary  Band.  217 

so  became  from  this  time  on,  with  but  two  brief  intervals, 
the  constant  medical  attendant  of  the  great  apostle.     He 
left  a  profession  which  was  made  by  many,  even  then,  a  lu- 
crative one,  to  become  the  travelling  companion  of  a  man 
who  was  poor  in  this  world's  goods,  and  whose  great  ambi- 
tion, alike  in  weakness  and  in  strength,  was  to  preach  "  the 
glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God."     Some  would  call  him 
a  fool  for  his  pains ;  but  see  how,  though  he  missed  a  fort- 
une, he  is  to  -  night,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  eighteen 
centuries,  working  among  us  through  this  history,  though 
all  save  a  very  few  of  the  more  prominent  m.en  of  the  an- 
cient world  have  been  forgotten.     Nor  let  us  forget  that  he 
is  now  himself  in  the  presence  of  his   Lord,  realizing  the 
blessedness  of  the  reward  enfolded  in  these  words  :  "  Inas- 
much as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my 
brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me."     How  little  men  know 
about  their  contemporaries !  and  how  falsely  we  conjecture 
about  each  other's  chances  for  perennial  renown !     On  the 
imperial  throne  at  this  time  one  Claudius  sat,  and  it  might 
have  seemed  that  he  was  likely  to  be  remembered  longest  j 
but  now,  for  one  who  cares  about  Claudius,  there  are  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  whose  hearts  respond  to  the  bare  men- 
tion of  the  name  of  Luke.      And  perhaps,  of  all  who  are 
living  now,  he  that  will  be  most  lovingly  referred  to  a  thou- 
sand years  hence  is  to-night  in  some  obscure  locality,  draw- 
ing ridicule  upon  his  head  because  he  chooses  to  minister 
to  Christ  in  the  person  of  one  of  his  afflicted  servants.     Of 
this  at  least  we  may  be  sure,  that  the  unknown  becomes  at 
length  the  well-known  when  he  works  for  Jesus. 

These  four,  then— Paul,  Silas,  Timothy,  and  Luke— after 
a  brifef  voyage  from  Troas,  landed  at  Neapolis ;  and  so  the 
first  Christian  apostle  came  to  Europe.  What  food  for 
meditation  have  v/e  here !  Consider  what  the  Gospel  has 
done  in  that  quarter  of  the  globe  in  all  these  years ;  yet  we 


2i8  Paul  the  Missionary. 

trace  all  that  back  to  its  proximate  source  in  the  arrival  of 
these  strangers  at  Neapolis.  It  was  the  beginning  of  a  new 
era,  and  there  has  been  nothing  precisely  like  it  since,  un- 
less we  put  beside  it  the  voyage  of  Columbus  across  the 
Atlantic,  or  that  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  in  the  Mayflower. 
But  these  expeditions,  after  all,  were  more  or  less  selfish  in 
their  motives,  for  the  Spanish  admiral  went  for  fame,  and 
gold,  and  conquest,  and  the  fathers  went  for  ''freedom  to 
worship  God;"  but  Paul  and  his  companions  \vere  on  a 
mission  of  purest  benevolence,  for  they  carried  with  them 
the  message  of  salvation.  Their  voyage,  therefore,  stands 
out  by  itself,  as  unique  as  it  is  glorious.  They  went  to 
Europe,  not  for  their  own  comfort,  for  in  almost  every^  city 
they  were  opposed,  and  in  some  they  were  imprisoned ;  not 
for  v/ealth,  for  they  had  to  depend  on  their  own  hands  for 
their  support,  but  for  the  good  of  their  fellow-men.  They 
went  to  plant  a  seed  from  which  have  sprung  liberty,  law, 
progress,  and  religion  on  that  continent,  and  all  the  bless- 
ings which  in  this  western  land  we  now  enjoy.  They  went 
to  begin  a  revolution,  not  of  anarchy  and  blood  and  battle, 
but  of  slowly  working  principles,  which  are  in  operation  still, 
and  which  will  continue  to  operate  until  "  the  earth  shall  be 
filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord."  The  gigantic  trees 
in  the  Alariposa  grove  sprung  each  from  a  seed  no  bigger 
than  a  grain  of  wheat,  though  it  took  them  centuries  to 
grow.  Here,  in  the  landing  of  Paul  v/ith  the  Gospel  at 
Neapolis,  we  have  the  germ  out  of  which  European  and 
American  Christianity  has  been  developed.  It  has  required 
centuries  for  its  production,  yet  what  a  marvel,  far  above 
these  giants  of  the  forest,  it  is  to-day.  With  all  its  imper- 
fections, it  is  the  grandest  thing  this  earth  has  ever  seen ; 
and  as  we  look  here  at  its  beginning,  and  then  around  us 
at  its  vigor  and  efficiency,  we  think  of  David's  song :  "  There 
shall  be  an  handful  of  corn  in  the  earth,  upon  the  top  of 


The  Second  Missionary  Band.  219 

the  mountains ;  the  fruit  thereof  shall  shake  like  Lebanon : 
and  they  of  the  city  shall  flourish  like  grass  of  the  earth. 
His  name  shall  endure  forever  :  his  name  shall  be  continued 
as  long  as  the  sun ;  and  men  shall  be  blessed  in  him :  and 
all  nations  shall  call  him  blessed." 

I  conclude  with  two  practical  lessons. 

In  the  first  place,  let  us  be  reminded  of  the  importance 
of  family  religious  training.  Timothy  was  fitted  for  his 
work  as  really  by  the  pious  and  hidden  ministry  of  his 
mother  and  grandmother  as  by  the  public  instructions  of 
Paul.  Perhaps  there  is  special  need  to  emphasize  this  ex- 
ample now.  For  in  this  busy  age,  when  men  are  wearied 
and  worried  with  business  cares,  and  women  are  burdened 
with  domestic  anxieties,  I  fear  that  we  are  apt  to  lose  sight 
of  the  importance  of  "the  Church  in  the  house."  I  have 
no  words  but  those  of  appreciation  and  gratitude  for  the 
Sunday-school.  I  think  that  there  are  few  more  significant, 
I  had  almost  said,  more  sublime  facts,  in  the  history  of  our 
generation,  than  this,  that  so  many  thousands  of  Christian 
men  and  women  have  given  systematically,  continuously, 
and  gratuitously  their  services  to  the  Church  for  the  relig- 
ious instruction  of  the  young.  Yet  we  must  not  allow  the 
Sunday-school  to  become  a  substitute  for  home  instruction. 
Whatever  other  agencies  Christian  parents  call  to  their  as- 
sistance, theirs  must  still  be  the  superintendence  of  their 
children's  religious  education.  The  Sabbath-school  may  do 
much ;  but  still,  father  and  mother  ought  to  supervise  and 
direct,  guarding  against  all  error  that  may  insidiously  intro- 
duce itself,  and  watching  against  everything  that  may  tend  to 
injure  the  characters  of  the  children.  In  particular,  it  ought 
to  be  their  delight  to  introduce  their  little  ones  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  sacred  Scriptures.  The  first  remembrance  a 
child  has  of  the  word  of  God  should  be  associated  with  one 
or  other  or  both  of  his  parents.     Its  stories  will  come  with 


220  Paul  the  Missionary. 

special  interest  from  their  lips.  Its  Psalms  will  have  new 
music  as  they  sing  them.  Its  parables  will  acquire  a  pe- 
culiar charm  as  they  repeat  them.  The  telling  of  some 
Bible  history  ought  to  be  granted  to  children  as  a  reward 
for  any  service  or  conduct  worthy  of  commendation.  But 
never  on  any  account  ought  such  topics  to  be  associated 
with  punishment,  or  the  idea  to  be  given  them  that  the 
Scriptures  are  so  much  task  work  to  be  portioned  out  piece 
by  piece  in  penal  imposition.  Let  parents  only  begin  and 
carry  on  lovingly,  wisely,  and  systematically  with  their  chil- 
dren such  a  course  of  home  training  for  years,  not  on  the 
Sabbaths  alone,  but  on  all  days  alike,  and  soon  the  Lord  will 
lay  his  hands  in  blessing  on  the  heads  of  the  little  ones, 
and  make  them  the  means  of  rendering  effective  service  to 
their  generation  in  after -days.  Is  it  so,  my  hearers,  that 
such  parental  instruction  is  a  rare  thing  now?  Is  it  so, 
that  the  infant  class  in  the  Sunday-school  has  taken  too 
largely  the  place  of  such  home  lessons  ?  Surely  it  cannot 
be.  The  infant  class  is  a  delightful  institution,  and  I  would 
not  desire  to  see  it  do  less  than  it  is  doing  now;  but  the 
fact  of  its  existence  and  the  effect  of  its  exercises  ought  to 
make  it  all  the  more  easy  for  you  to  supplement  its  instruc- 
tions, and  to  add  the  endorsement  of  your  approval  to  the 
emphasis  of  its  teacher's  words.  Let  me  implore  you,  there- 
fore. Christian  parents,  whoever  else  may  be  engaged  in  tlie 
religious  training  of  your  children,  to  give  it  also  your  per- 
sonal and  pre-eminent  attention.  And  when  they  begin  to 
read  for  themselves,  keep  a  Vv-atchful  eye  on  the  sort  of  liter- 
ature they  choose,  for  unless  you  do  that,  some  pernicious  in- 
fluence may  enter  their  hearts,  and  the  work  of  many  years 
may  be  endangered  by  the  poisonous  effect  of  some  trashy 
and  sensational  tale.  Look  for  the  conversion  of  your  chil- 
dren not  so  much  as  the  result  of  a  pastor's  sermons  or 
a  teacher's  lessons,  as  of  your  own  prayers,  and  talks,  and 


The  Second  Missionary  Band.  221 

example  ;  and  when  it  comes,  greet  it  with  a  gladness  great- 
er, if  also  more  sacred,  than  that  with  which  you  hold  a 
birthday  festival. 

Finally,  let  us  learn  that  the  Gospel  is  the  best  help  we 
can  bring  to  a  man.  The  great  root  out  of  which  all  evils 
spring  is  sin.  Now,  as  the  Gospel  comes  to  proclaim  de- 
liverance both  from  the  guilt  and  power  of  sin,  it  follows 
that  it  will  ultimately  mitigate  and  remove  the  miseries  that 
have  emanated  from  it.  When  we  dry  up  the  source,  the 
streams  will  no  longer  flow.  Thus  it  comes  that  for  every 
form  of  individual  and  social  degradation  the  Gospel  is  the 
certain  remedy.  How  many  there  are  in  these  days  crying 
for  help !  We  are  meeting  this  man  of  Macedonia  every- 
where ;  and  go  where  we  may,  his  appeal, "  Come  over  and 
help  us !"  is  ringing  in  our  ears.  The  drunkard,  the  poor, 
degraded  victim  of  appetite,  the  discontented,  the  destitute, 
the  criminal,  and  the  unfortunate — all  are  crying,  each  in 
his  own  way,  for  our  assistance  ;  and  many  are  the  expedi- 
ents which  have  been  resorted  to  for  their  amelioration  and 
relief.  They  are  all  good,  so  far.  They  all  do  something ; 
but  none  of  them  goes  to  the  seat  of  the  evil  but  the  Gos- 
pel. All  the  others  only  "  skim  and  film  the  ulcerous  sore  " 
for  the  time ;  the  Gospel  alone  works  out  a  permanent  cure. 
It  is  the  heart  that  is  wrong ;  and  only  when  that  is  renew- 
ed will  the  man  become  what  he  was  designed  by  God  to 
be.  Whatever  else  we  do  for  the  relief  or  reclamation  of 
our  fellow-men,  therefore,  we  must  seek  to  give  them  the 
Gospel,  for  that  alone  can  meet  their  need ;  and  so  the 
Christian  Church,  if  she  were  what  she  ought  to  be,  would 
be  the  best  social  science  association ;  the  best  temperance 
society ;  the  best  restorer  of  the  fallen ;  the  best  antidote 
to  wild  and  communistic  theories,  that  undermine  the  foun- 
dations of  truth  and  righteousness  ;  the  best  peace  society ; 
the  best  international  alliance ;  in  a  word,  the  best  righter 


222  Paul  the  Missionary. 

of  the  wrongs  that  make  "  the  still  sad  music  of  humanity." 
The  Lord  said  in  the  synagogue  of  Nazareth,  "  The  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach 
the  gospel  to  the  poor ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken- 
hearted, to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  recov- 
ering of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are 
bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord."*  To 
that  mission  we  have  now  succeeded,  and  we  are  stirred  to 
earnestness  in  its  prosecution  not  more  by  the  command, 
"  Go  preach,"  that  comes  to  us  from  the  Master  behind  us, 
than  by  the  entreaty,  "  Come  over  and  help  us !"  that  rises 
from  the  miserable  before  us.  Let  us,  then,  gird  ourselves 
for  this  honorable  crusade ;  for  in  the  proportion  in  which 
we  succeed,  sin  and  suffering  will  disappear  from  the  midst 
of  us. 

*  Luke  iv.,  i8,  19. 


XII. 

PAUL  AT  PHILIFPI. 

Acts  xvi.,  12-40. 

NEAPOLIS,  at  which  Paul  and  his  companions  first 
landed  on  the  shore  of  Europe,  was  a  seaport  on  the 
border  of  Thrace,  and  from  the  remains  of  paved  military 
roads,  and  of  a  great  aqueduct  yet  existing  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, it  has  been  identified  with  the  modern  Cavallo.  It 
stood  on  a  small  promontory,  jutting  out  into  a  bay  nearly 
opposite  to,  though  about  twelve  miles  distant  from,  the 
island  of  Thasos.  Between  it  and  Philippi,  which  was  only 
eight  miles  off,  the  mountain  ridge  of  Pangaeus  had  to  be 
crossed  by  a  pass  which  has  been  described  as  "a  miniature 
Thermopylae."*  The  ascent  begins  almost  as  the  traveller 
leaves  the  town ;  and  when  the  summit  is  reached,  an  exten- 
sive sea-view  is  obtained ;  but  as  he  descends  on  the  opposite 
side  he  loses  sight  of  the  ^gean,  and  there  opens  up  before 
him  a  vast  plain,  which  has  thus  been  described  by  the  late 
Dr.  Dwight  of  the  American  Mission  :  "When  we  arrived  at 
the  top  of  the  mountain,  the  place  where  Paul  must  have 
had  the  first  glance  of  the  plain,  and  the  city  ^vhere  he  was 
to  open  the  proclamation  of  the  Gospel  on  European  ground, 
I  turned  round  to  see  what  impression  the  spectacle  might 
have  made  upon  him,  and  truly  a  more  inspiring  prospect 
cannot  well  be  fancied.  The  road  is  broad  enough,  and  the 
hill  so  widening  toward  the  plain,  that  a  very  large  and  rich 


*  Lewin,  vol.  i,,  p.  204. 


224  Paul  the  Missionary. 

part  of  the  latter  becomes  visible  at  once,  and  the  direction 
of  the  road  is  such  as  to  throw  the  hill  projecting,  with  the 
Acropolis  on  its  summit  and  the  city  of  Philippi  at  its  base, 
right  into  the  centre  of  the  picture.'"^ 

The  minute  accuracy  of  the  historian  is  once  more  illus- 
trated by  the  w^ords  describing  Philippi  as  "  the  first  city 
of  that  part  of  Macedonia,  and  a  colony."  I  have  preferred, 
as  you  wall  observe,  the  marginal  rendering,  "  the  first,"  to 
the  translation  given  in  the  text,  "the  chief;"  and  I  have 
done  so  because  the  purpose  of  the  narrator  is  to  define  the 
geographical  position,  and  not  the  political  importance  of 
Philippi.  He  means  to  say  that  to  one  entering  Macedonia 
from  the  Thracian  frontier  in  that  district,  Philippi  is  the 
first  city  on  his  route.  Thus  he  naturally  accounts  for  the 
fact  that  here,  as  the  earliest  Macedonian  centre  on  which 
Paul  came,  he  began  to  respond  to  the  cry  for  help  which 
in  his  vision  at  Troas  he  had  heard.  The  city  itself  was 
originally  called  Krenides,  or  the  fountains,  because  of  the 
number  of  springs  in  its  vicinity.  Subsequently  it  was 
known  as  Datus,  or  Datum  ;  but  when  Philip  of  Macedon 
conquered  the  Thracians,  he  built  a  fortress  on  the  site  of 
its  Acropolis,  that  he  mioht  have  full  command  of  the  neigh- 
boring country,  and  called  it  after  his  own  name,  Philippi. 
In  course  of  time  it  came  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans, 
and  was  brought  into  almost  constant  communication  with 
the  Imperial  City  by  its  situation  on  the  great  Egnatian 
road,  whereby  the  East  and  the  West  were  connected  under 
that  military  system  which  has  always  been  regarded  as  the 
perfection  of  organization.  On  the  plain  surrounding  the 
city  was  fought  that  battle  between  Brutus  and  Cassius  on 
the  one  side,  and  Anthony  and  Octavius  on  the  other,  which 
sealed  the  fate  of  the   Roman  republic,  and  prepared  the 

*  Quoted  in  Kitto's  "Daily  Bible  Illustrations,"  vol.  viii.,p.  377. 


Paul  at  Philippi.  225 

way  for  the  assumption  by  Octavius,  under  the  name  of  Au- 
gustus, of  imperial  power.  In  consequence  of  the  victory 
then  won  by  him,  the  city  was  greatly  favored,  and  was  made 
a  Roman  colony  ;  but  as  that  term  had  then  a  significance 
entirely  different  from  the  meaning  which  now  belongs  to  it, 
we  must  be  on  our  guard  against  falling  into  error  regarding 
it.  Among  us  the  word  designates  a  company  of  settlers  in 
a  new  land,  who  still  remain,  in  some  sense,  dependent  on 
the  mother  country;  but  among  the  Romans  it  denoted  a 
city  which,  though  situated  far  away  from  Rome,  was  still 
regarded  as  only  an  extension  of  the  great  metropolis.  The 
colonists,  in  the  later  days,  were  commonly  either  old  sol- 
diers or  freedmen,  who  went  forth  like  an  army,  and  chose 
the  site  of  their  future  abode,  marking  out  its  boundaries  in 
a  spirit  which  was  as  much  religious  as  military;  for  the  oc- 
casion was  signalized  by  the  observance  of  sacred  rites  as 
well  as  by  martial  display.  They  kept  their  places,  however, 
on  the  roll  of  the  citizens  of  Rome,  were  included  in  one  or 
other  of  the  tribes  into  which  the  burgesses  of  the  metropo- 
lis were  divided,  and  had  the  right  of  voting  in  the  elections 
of  its  magistrates.  In  their  new  home  they  were  under  Ro- 
man law,  and  were  governed  by  their  own  senate,  and  by 
magistrates  who  were  known  as  Duumvirs,  and  not  by  the 
propraetor  or  proconsul  of  the  province.  The  land  on  which 
their  city  stood,  however,  was  liable  to  taxation,  unless  it 
were  specially  exempted,  as  Philippi  was,  by  what  was  called 
the  Jus  Italicum.  The  colonists  had  the  rights  of  Roman 
citizens,  and  had  at  all  times  the  privilege  of  appeal  from 
their  own  magistrates  to  the  emperor  himself. 

Now,  one  cannot  read  the  narrative  which  is  to  engage 
our  attention  in  this  discourse  without  perceiving  that  we 
are  introduced  into  a  state  of  things  corresponding  in  every 
respect  to  that  which  I  have  just  described.  As  Lightfoot 
has  succinctly  put  it,  "The  political  atmosphere  of  the  place 


2  26  Paul  the  Missionary. 

is  wholly  Roman.  The  chief  magistrates,  more  strictly  du- 
umvirs, arrogate  to  themselves  the  loftier  title  of  praetors. 
Their  servants,  like  the  attendant  officers  of  the  highest 
functionaries  in  Rome,  bear  the  name  of  lictors.  The  pride 
and  privilege  of  Roman  citizenship  confront  us  at  every  turn. 
This  is  the  sentiment  which  stimulates  the  blind  loyalty  of 
the  people  (Acts  xvi.,  21);  this  is  the  power  which  obtains 
redress  for  the  prisoners,  and  forces  an  apology  from  the 
unwilling  magistrates  (Acts  xvi.,  37-39)-  Nor  is  this  feature 
entirely  lost  sight  of  when  we  turn  from  St.  Luke's  narra- 
tive to  St.  Paul's  Epistle.  Addressing  a  Roman  colony  from 
the  Roman  metropolis,  writing  as  a  citizen  to  citizens,  he  re- 
curs to  the  political  franchise  as  an  apt  symbol  of  the  higher 
privileges  of  their  heavenly  calling,  to  the  political  life  as  a 
suggestive  metaphor  for  the  duties  of  their  Christian  pro- 
fession" (Phil,  i.,  27  ;  iii.,  20).* 

In  such  a  city,  though  the  principal  inhabitants  were 
originally  Romans,  the  population  would  gradually  become 
mixed,  as  representatives  of  other  nationalities  gathered  in 
to  enjoy  the  advantages  which  it  possessed.  But  whatever 
may  have  been  the  proportion  of  Greeks  residing  within  its 
walls,  there  could  not  have  been  many  Jews,  for  there  is  no 
mention  of  a  synagogue.  All  that  the  descendants  of  Abra- 
ham were  strong  enough  to  sustain  was  what  is  called  a 
"proseucha,"  or  oratory,  which  was  distinguished  from  more 
important  places  of  worship  by  the  slightness  of  its  struct- 
ure, and  frequently,  also,  by  the  absence  of  a  roof.  That 
referred  to  in  the  history  before  us  was  outside  of  the  city, 
probably  for  the  purpose  of  securing  retirement,  and  on  the 
margin  of  a  running  stream  named  the  Gangites,  in  which 
ceremonial  ablutions  might  conveniently  be  made.     The 

*  St.  Paul's  "  Epistle  to  the  Philippians,"  by  J.  B.  Lightfoot,  D.D., 
PP-  50,  51- 


Paul  at  Philippi.  227 

congregation  which  statedly  assembled  in  it  was  very  small, 
consisting  chiefly,  if  not  indeed  entirely,  of  women ;  and 
even  of  them  all  were  not  of  Jewish  birth,  for  she  who  is 
specially  mentioned  was  a  proselytess.  The  absence  of  the 
husbands  and  brothers  may  perhaps  be  accounted  for  from 
their  having  become  careless  and  remiss  in  their  religious 
duties,  when  they  were  away  from  the  associations  and  re- 
straints of  home ;  as,  alas !  is  too  frequently  the  case  with 
many  who  leave  Christian  abodes  in  the  country  for  the 
great  city  in  our  own  days ;  or  perhaps,  like  Eunice,  the  moth- 
er of  Timothy,  the  women  might  be  for  the  most  part  the 
wives  of  Gentile  husbands,  who,  though  not  interfering  with 
their  religious  worship,  did  not  join  them  in  their  services. 

According  to  his  invariable  practice  of  preaching  to  the 
Jew  first,  Paul  sought  out  this  secluded  spot,  and  though 
he  might,  perhaps,  have  some  little  difficulty  in  finding  it,* 
yet  when  the  Sabbath  came  he  and  his  companions  made 
their  way  to  the  place.  A  lover  of  sensation  or  a  craver 
for  popularity  might  have  been  disappointed  at  the  small- 
ness  of  the  congregation,  and  might  have  been  tempted  to 
give  up  all  idea  of  preaching  to  such  a  handful  of  people. 
But  while  no  man  could  make  more  of  a  great  opportunity 
than  the  apostle  Paul,  none  was  ever  less  disposed  to  neg- 
lect what  might  seem  to  be  a  small  one,  and  therefore  he 
and  his  companions,  after  the  usual  devotional  exercises, 
sat  down  and  spake  unto  the  women.  At  first  all  took  part, 
but  by-and-by  the  interest  centred  in  the  words  of  Paul. 
We  are  not  told  what  he  said,  but  we  know  full  well  what 
would  be  the  theme  of  his  discourse.  Here,  as  everywhere 
else,  Christ  would  be  proclaimed  by  him  not  only  as  the 
Messiah  promised  to  the  fathers,  but  also  as  the  Saviour  of 

*  Lightfoot,  as  above,  p.  51,  prefers,  in  verse  13th  here,  the  reading 
which  gives  the  translation  "  where  we  supposed  there  was  a  place  of 
prayer." 


228  Paul  the  Missionary. 

men  from  the  guilt  and  power  of  sin.  Every  exposition 
of  Scripture  which  he  presented,  every  argument  which  he 
prosecuted,  every  illustration  which  he  used,  every  appeal 
which  he  enforced,  would  lead  up  to  him ;  and,  as  at  An- 
tioch,  in  Pisidia,  he  would  sum  up  his  message  in  the  decla- 
ration that  "through  this  man  is  preached  unto  you  the  for- 
giveness of  sins ;  and  by  him  all  that  believe  are  justified 
from  all  things,  from  which  ye  could  not  be  justified  by 
the  law  of  Moses."*  We  know  not  what  the  results  were 
in  the  case  of  all  who  heard  him  ;  but  one  was  there  who 
had  occasion  to  remember  that  day  through  life,  and  who 
now  in  heaven  looks  back  upon  it  as  the  beginning  of  her 
Christian  life,  for  God  touched  and  "opened  her  heart," 
that  "  she  attended  unto  the  things  which  were  spoken  of 
Paul."  She  believed  then  and  there,  and  having,  with  her 
household,  been  baptized,  she  so  pressed  her  hospitality 
upon  the  strangers  that,  contrary  to  Paul's  custom  in  other 
places,  they  took  up  their  abode  in  her  house.  This  was 
Lydia,  a  native  not  of  Philippi,  but  of  Thyatira,  in  Asia,  and 
engaged  in  Philippi  in  the  sale  of  that  purple  for  the  pro- 
duction of  which  her  native  city  was  famous. 

During  his  sojourn  under  her  roof,  Paul  seems  to  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  frequenting  the  place  where  her  con- 
version had  occurred.  Doubtless  it  afforded  facilities  for 
reaching  the  Jewish  population,  and  promised  to  give  him  a 
basis  of  operations  from  which  he  might  work  with  advan- 
tage upon  the  people  as  a  whole.  But  his  residence  in  the 
city  was  cut  short  by  the  performance  of  a  miracle  of  mercy 
at  his  word.  On  his  way  to  and  from  the  place  of  prayer 
he  had  been  frequently  met  by  a  female  slave,  who  was  the 
victim  of  demoniacal  possession.  She  is  here  said  to  have 
been  possessed  by  a  spirit  of  Python,  which  was  one  of  the 

*  Acts  xiii.,  38,39. 


Paul  at  Philippi.  229 

names  of  the  Apollo  who  had  his  shrine  at  Delphi,  where 
his  priestess  gave  to  those  who  made  application  for  them 
enigmatic  responses,  accompanied  on  her  part  with  tearing 
of  the  hair  and  other  manifestations  of  frantic  fury.     The 
historian  employs  the  term  current  in  the  place ;  but  Paul, 
as  we  shall  see,  treated  it  as  a  case  of  the  same  sort  of  pos- 
session as  was  so  frequently  met  by  the  Saviour  in  his  per- 
sonal ministry.      She  was  afflicted  with  no  mere  physical 
malady,  like  epilepsy  or  insanity;  but  there  was,  indeed,  in 
her  spirit  an  evil  agent,  one  of  the  subordinates  of  the  Prince 
of  Darkness.     As  Trench  has  expressively  described  it,  in 
his  exposition  of  one  of  the  Saviour's  miracles,  "  There  was 
a  power  in  her  which  she,  even  in  the  moment  of  her  suc- 
cumbing to  it,  felt  to  be  the  contradiction  of  her  truest  be- 
ing, but  which  yet  forced  itself  upon  her  and  possessed  her, 
that  she  must  needs  speak  and  act  as  its  organ,  however  pres- 
ently her  personal  consciousness  might  reassert  itself  for  a 
moment ;"  and  again,  "Another  was  ruling  in  the  high  places 
of  her  soul,  and  had  cast  down  the  rightful  Lord  from  his 
seat,  and  she  knew  this."*     It  was  a  malady  of  a  strangely 
complex  kind,  having  on  one  side  of  it  some  striking  resem- 
blances to  purely  physical  diseases,  and  on  another  seeming 
to  me  to  be  (shall  I  dare  to  say  it .?)  the  devil's  caricature 
and  travesty  of  that  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is 
the  highest  privilege  of  the  devout  believer.     But,  to  borrow 
again  from  Trench  :  "  He  who  came  to  destroy  the  works  of 
the  devil,  as  he  showed  himself  lord  over  purely  physical 
evil,  a  healer  of  diseases  of  men  and  lord  over  purely  spir- 
itual evil,  a  deliverer  of  men  from  their  sins  —  manifested 
himself  also  lord  in  these  complex  cases  partaking  of  the 
nature  of  either,  ruler  also  in  the  border-land  where  these 
two  regions  of  evil  join,  and  run  so  strangely  and  unaccount- 

*  "Trench  on  the  Miracles,"  pp.  160,  162. 


230  Paul  the  Missionary. 

ably  into  each  other."*  In  this  case,  that  which  was  a  ter- 
rible calamity  to  the  woman  had  been  turned  into  a  means 
of  gain  by  her  owners,  who  made  a  profit  from  her  divina- 
tions as  a  fortune-teller.  As  in  the  days  of  the  Redeemer's 
flesh  the  evil  spirits  recognized  him,  and  called  him  the  Son 
of  the  Most  High  God,  so  the  demon  in  this  poor  slave  be- 
came conscious  of  the  relation  of  Paul  to  Christ,  and  kept 
calling  after  him  and  his  companions,  "  These  men  are  the 
servants  of  the  most  high  God,  which  show  unto  us  the  way 
of  salvation."  But  the  apostle,  not  wishing  to  have  the 
Gospel  degraded  by  such  testimony,  and  filled  at  once  with 
compassion  for  the  slave  and  indignation  at  her  masters, 
being  moreover  divinely  directed,  turned  and  said  to  the 
evil  spirit,  "  I  command  thee  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  to 
come  out  of  her,"  and  immediately  she  was  delivered  from 
her  tormentor.  But  that  which  was  to  her  a  blessing  was 
a  sore  blow  to  her  owners;  "for  now  the  hope  of  their 
gains  was  gone,"  and  so,  raising  a  tumult,  they  laid  hold  of 
Paul  and  Silas,  dragged  them  into  the  forum  before  the  mag- 
istrates, and  brought  this  accusation  against  them :  "  These 
men,  being  Jews,  do  exceedingly  trouble  our  city,  and  teach 
customs  which  are  not  lawful  for  us  to  receive,  neither  to 
observe,  being  Romans." 

We  are  struck  with  the  selfishness  of  these  men.  They 
had  no  joy  at  the  relief  of  the  slave  from  her  oppressor,  for 
they  were  overwhelmed  with  grief  at  the  loss  of  their  divi- 
dends. So  the  rum- sellers  anathematize  all  movements  in 
the  direction  of  temperance.  So  the  traders  in  heathen 
lands  denounce  the  missionaries.  So  the  padrones  curse 
the  men  who  take  the  poor  Italian  boys  from  their  cruel 
bondage.  Touch  a  man's  pocket,  and  very  frequently  you 
touch  the  only  sensitive  spot  he  has  about  him. 

*  "  Trench  on  the  Miracles,"  p.  161. 


Paul  at  Philippi.  231 

But  the  cunning  of  these  men  was  equal  to  their  selfish- 
ness. They  put  in  the  fore-front  of  their  accusation  the 
nationality  of  the  missionaries — "  these  men,  being  JewsP 
Why  ?  Because  the  Jew  was  everywhere  looked  down  upon 
for  his  exclusiveness,  and  hated  for  his  commercial  success. 
Perhaps,  also,  because  just  at  this  time  the  Jews  had  fallen 
into  disgrace  with  Claudius,  and  had  been  banished  from 
the  metropolis ;  so  that,  in  a  colony  like  Philippi,  which  was 
only  a  little  Rome  in  Macedonia,  they  were  likely  to  be  very 
summarily  treated.  Thus  their  adversaries  brought  the  full 
force  of  prejudice  to  bear  upon  the  missionaries,  and  wished 
to  draw  attention  away  from  the  merits  of  the  case. 

Moreover,  it  is  impossible  to  shut  one's  eyes  to  their  hy- 
pocrisy. They  object  to  Paul  and  Silas  because  they  taught 
customs  which  it  was  not  lawful  for  Roman  citizens  to  re- 
ceive and  observe  ;  but  they  said  not  a  word  about  the  heal- 
ing of  their  slave.  Thus,  often  the  alleged  ground  of  of- 
fence with  a  man  is  different  from  the  real  one.  In  Eph- 
esus,  when  Paul  wms  there,  the  silversmiths  met  in  secret 
conclave  and  whispered  one  to  another — for  Demetrius  only 
spoke  aloud  what  every  one  had  already  said  or  thought — 
"  Ye  know  that  this  our  craft  is  in  danger,"  and  "  by  this 
craft  we  have  our  wealth ;"  but  when  they  came  out  into  the 
theatre  they  made  no  reference  to  their  gainful  trade,  but 
shouted,  "  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians !"  And  in  our 
own  day  we  have  seen  immense  professions  of  zeal  for  some 
sacred  duty,  or  for  some  department  of  benevolence,  or  for 
the  purity  of  public  morals,  made  by  those  whose  real  motive 
was  to  secure  their  own  possession  of  some  lucrative  office. 
When  a  man  is  to  be  hunted  down,  it  is  usually  not  difficult 
for  his  enemies  to  find  a  pretext  for  sending  the  blood-hounds 
on  his  track ;  and  those  who  on  ordinary  occasions  care 
nothing  for  religion,  will  become  all  at  once  very  earnest  in 
its  behalf  when  they  imagine  that  thereby  they  can  get  rid 


232  Paul  the  Missionary. 

of  an  antagonist.  Whenever  you  hear  v/orldly  men  talk 
largely  about  their  concern  for  the  honor  of  the  Church,  you 
may  expect  to  see  them  make  one  of  the  meanest  and  most 
malignant  attacks  on  some  Christian  man.  "When  the 
serpent  straightens  itself,"  says  the  Spanish  proverb,  "it  is 
about  to  go  into  its  hole ;"  and  when  the  selfish  maan  begins 
to  speak  about  the  necessity  of  benevolence,  he  is  on  the 
way  to  the  perfecting  of  some  scheme  for  the  advancement 
of  his  own  interests. 

But  the  mob  in  every  age  has  been  easily  led  by  the 
plausible  sayings  of  those  who  know  how  to  manipulate  it, 
and  the  appeal  made  by  the  slave -masters  to  the  people 
so  wrought  upon  their  prejudices  as  to  create  an  excite- 
ment before  which  all  the  forms  of  law  w^ere  thrown  down, 
and  the  magistrates  became  themselves  the  ringleaders,  for 
"  they  rent  off  their  clothes,  and  commanded  to  beat  Paul 
and  Silas."  Nay,  not  content  with  offering  this  violence, 
they  "cast  them  into  prison,  charging  the  jailer  to  keep 
them  safely." 

That  functionary,  willing  to  carry  out  his  instructions 
with  the  utmost  rigor,  thrust  his  prisoners  into  the  inner 
dungeon,  and  fastened  their  feet  in  an  instrument  which 
was  used  only  to  torture  the  vilest  malefactors.  The  cell 
in  which  he  confined  them  was  not  like  that  of  one  of  our 
modern  jails,  but  resembled  rather  such  a  damp,  dark  dun- 
geon as  we  sometimes  see  among  the  ruins  of  a  feudal 
castle  in  the  Old  World.  It  was  a  pestilential  place,  from 
which  the  light  was  excluded,  and  in  which  the  chains  rust- 
ed on  the  prisoners'  limbs,  while  the  fiervus,  or  stocks,  vvas 
a  frame  made  sometimes  of  wood,  sometimes  of  iron,  with 
holes  into  which  the  legs,  and  occasionally  also  the  arms  and 
even  the  neck  of  the  unfortunate  victim,  were  stretched  and 
confined.  Think,  then,  of  these  two  noble  men,  with  their 
feet  shackled,  and  their  backs  all  bleedino:  from  the  blows 


Paul  at  Philippi.  233 

of  the  lictors'  rods,  consigned  to  a  close,  cold,  dismal  den, 
fitter  for  a  wild  beast's  lair  than  the  abode  of  human  be- 
ings, and  you  will  have  some  idea  of  what  Paul  means  when, 
writing  to  the  Thessalonians,  he  speaks  of  his  "being  shame- 
fully treated  at  Philippi."* 

But  they  were  not  dejected  or  in  despair.  We  could 
have  understood  and  made  allowance  for  some  little  de- 
spondency in  them,  considering  the  trials  to  which  they  had 
been  subjected,  but,  so  far  from  being  dispirited,  they  ad- 
dressed themselves  with  calm  cheerfulness  to  God.  "At 
midnight  praying,  they  sang  praises  unto  God,"  for  so  the 
words  are.  Their  prayers  took  the  form  of  praises,  or  like 
those  of  David,  from  whom  their  hymns  were  most  probably 
taken,  their  song,  beginning  in  a  minor  key,  swelled  gradu- 
ally up  to  exulting  praise. 

"  In  that  hour  when  night  is  calmest 
Sang  they  fiom  the  Hebrew  Psalmist." 

What  would  we  have  given  to  know  which  odes  they 
chanted  in  that  dreary  place  ?  Did  they  console  themselves 
with  such  a  strain  as  this  :  "  The  Lord  looked  down  from 
the  height  of  his  sanctuary ;  from  heaven  did  the  Lord  be- 
hold the  earth;  to  hear  the  groaning  of  the  prisoner;  to  loose 
those  that  are  appointed  to  death."t  Or  was  it  thus  they 
sung:  "The  Lord  executeth  judgment  for  the  oppressed. 
The  Lord  looseth  the  prisoners. "$  Or  did  they  call  to  mind 
that  beautiful  section  of  the  thanksgiving  Psalm,  "  Such  as 
sit  in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death,  being  bound  in 
affliction  and  iron.  .  .  .  Then  they  cried  unto  the  Lord  in 
their  trouble,  and  he  saved  them  out  of  their  distresses.  He 
brought  them  out  of  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death,  and 
brake  their  bands  in  sunder.    Oh  that  men  would  praise  the 

*  Thess.  ii.,  2.  f  Psa.  cii.,  19,  20.  t  Psa.  cxlvi.,  7. 


234  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Lord  for  his  goodness,  and  for  his  wonderful  works  to  the 
children  of  men!  For  he  hath  broken  the  gates  of  brass, 
and  cut  the  bars  of  iron  in  sunder."*  We  cannot  tell. 
We  know  only  that  while  they  were  singing,  and  their  fel- 
low-prisoners were  listening  to  their  psalm,  an  earthquake 
caused  the  prison  to  shake,  and  every  man's  bands  were 
loosed.  Startled  by  this  terrible  occurrence,  the  keeper 
came  to  look  after  his  charge,  and,  finding  the  doors  open, 
he  forthwith  concluded  that  the  prisoners  had  escaped. 
Had  that  been  really  the  case,  he  would  have  been  put  to 
death,  and  therefore,  desiring  to  evade  the  disgrace  of  a 
public  execution,  he  was  about  to  kill  himself  with  his  own 
sword,  when  Paul  cried  out  to  him  in  a  loud  voice,  "  Do 
thyself  no  harm,  for  we  are  all  here."  Then  calling  for  a 
light  he  sprang  in,  trembling  and  astonished,  and  fell  at  the 
feet  of  the  two  men  of  God,  saying,  "  Sirs,  what  must  I  do 
to  be  saved  ?" 

Some  have  affirmed  that  the  salvation  of  which  he  spoke 
was  merely  deliverance  from  punishment  at  the  hands  of 
the  magistrates.  But  that  cannot  be,  for  he  already  knew 
that  all  the  prisoners  v/ere  safe,  and  therefore  he  had  noth- 
ing to  fear  from  his  earthly  superiors.  His  words  can  re- 
fer only  to  that  spiritual  danger  which  he  now  saw  before 
him,  and  Paul,  fully  comprehending  his  meaning,  made  re- 
ply :  "  Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be 
saved,  and  thy  house."  Perhaps  he  had  already  heard  a 
good  deal  about  Jesus,  either  from  the  missionaries  them- 
selves, or  from  the  reports  given  by  others  of  what  they  had 
said.  But  if  he  had  not,  Paul  would  set  Christ  fully  before 
him,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  him  in  such  a  form  that  he 
could  intelligently  lay  hold  of  it.  Indeed,  we  are  expressly 
told  that  they  spake  the  word  of  the  Lord  to  all  that  were 

*  Psa.  cvii.,  10, 13-16. 


Paul  at  Philippi.  235 

in  his  house ;  and  the  result  was  that  he  and  his  believed 
and  were  baptized,  most  probably  at  the  fountain  in  the 
court-yard  of  the  prison,  at  which,  also,  he  tenderly  washed 
the  stripes  of  his  now  honored  instructors.  Then,  bringing 
them  into  his  house,  he  set  meat  before  them,  and  rejoiced 
with  such  heartiness  that  Paul  and  Silas  for  the  time  forgot 
their  sufferings  in  their  discovery  of  the  reason  why  God 
had  permitted  such  things  to  be  inflicted  on  them. 

When  the  morning  came,  the  magistrates  finding,  after* 
the  night's  reflection,  that  they  had  been  guilty  of  injustice, 
and  desiring  to  get  out  of  a  difficulty  as  quietly  as  possible, 
sent  to  the  jailer  to  let  them  go ;  but  Paul  would  not  en- 
dure such  indignity  without  protest.  In  the  confusion  of 
the  previous  day,  he  had  either  not  been  able  to  declare  that 
he  was  a  Roman  citizen,  or,  owing  to  the  tumult  made  in  the 
forum,  his  words  had  not  been  heard.  Now,  however,  he 
was  minded  to  stand  upon  his  prerogative.  Therefore  he 
replied,  "  They  have  beaten  us  openly,  uncondemned,  being 
Romans,  and  have  cast  us  into  prison ;  and  now  do  they 
thrust  us  out  privily  ?  nay  verily ;  but  let  them  come  them- 
selves and  fetch  us  out."  Every  word  here  is  emphatic, 
and  brings  out  some  special  aggravation  in  the  outrage  of 
which  the  magistrates  had  been  guilty.  The  sentence,  as  a 
whole,  is  a  most  formidable  indictment,  and  was  well  fitted 
to  strike  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  rulers.  These  magic 
words,  "  I  am  a  Roman  citizen !"  according  to  Cicero, 
brought  aid  and  safety  even  among  barbarians  in  the  re- 
motest parts  of  the  world  ;  and  there  was  nothing  which  was 
more  sacredly  guarded  throughout  the  empire  than  the  priv- 
ileges which  belonged  to  every  one  who  had  a  right  to  use 
them.  One  of  the  most  eloquent  speeches  of  the  great  or- 
ator whom  I  have  just  named,  was  powerless  to  secure  the 
acquittal  of  a  governor  under  whose  administration  these 
rights  had  been  infringed.     We  can  understand,  therefore, 


236  Paul  the  Missionary. 

how  the  words  of  Paul  alarmed  the  Philippian  magistrates, 
and  how  in  fawning  politeness  they  came  and  besought  him 
and  his  companion  to  leave  the  city.  The  admission  of  their 
error  was  all  that  the  apostle  in  this  case  cared  for ;  and 
therefore,  after  having  paid  a  hasty  visit  to  Lydia,  and  given 
some  counsels  and  comforts  to  the  brethren  whom  he  had 
been  instrumental  in  leading  to  the  Saviour,  he  left  for  Thes- 
salonica. 

His  visit  to  Philippi  had  been  brief,  but  the  friendships 
made  there  were  among  the  truest  and  most  delightful  of 
Paul's  life ;  for  when  we  read  his  letter  to  the  members  of 
the  church  in  that  city,  written  perhaps  ten  years  later,  we 
shall  find  that  he  addresses  them  in  more  endearing  terms 
than  he  uses  to  any  other  correspondents.  He  could  al- 
ways depend  on  their  loyalty  to  him.  They  are  his  "  dear- 
ly beloved,  his  joy  and  crown."  He  would  receive  nothing 
from  the  men  of  Corinth  or  of  Ephesus  for  his  services,  but 
he  prized  the  supplies  which  were  sent  to  him  from  Phi- 
lippi. The  Christians  there  lay  nearest  to  his  heart,  and  re- 
ceived his  most  sacred  experiences  in  the  confidence  of  his 
affection.  His  tone  to  them  is  as  kindly  as  it  is  to  Timothy ; 
nor  need  we  wonder  at  all  this,  for  the  friendship  which  has 
been  cemented  in  the  fire  of  trial  endures  through  all  other 
emergencies. 

I  have  time  for  only  one  or  two  practical  inferences  from 
this  whole  narrative. 

We  have  here  set  before  us,  in  the  first  place,  the  two  agen- 
cies in  conversion.  On  the  human  side  we  see  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus  presented  to  the  mind,  and  attended  to  and  be- 
lieved by  the  heart.  This  is  the  only  means  whereby  a  sin- 
ner can  be  saved.  Error  will  not  convert  the  soul.  Neither 
will  the  truth  about  other  subjects  than  the  Gospel  regen- 
erate the  heart.  That  which  science  teaches  about  the  earth, 
the  heavenly  bodies,  and  the  various  objects  to  which  its  at- 


Paul  at  Philippi.  237 

tention  is  directed,  may  be  all  true,  and  it  is  all-important 
in  its  own  place  ;  but  its  reception  does  not  produce  any 
change  upon  the  moral  and  spiritual  nature  of  the  man. 
Nothing  but  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  "  can  do  anything 
like  that;  and  accordingly,  in  all  the  histories  of  conversion 
which  the  Bible  contains,  we  find  that  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  in  some  form  or  other  was  the  instrument  by  which 
they  w^ere  accom.plished.  On  the  Day  of  Pentecost  Peter 
proclaimed  the  forgiveness  of  sins  through  the  crucified  but 
risen  and  reigning  Christ.  In  the  household  of  Cornelius 
the  same  apostle  told  of  Jesus  and  his  work,  in  words  where- 
by the  centurion  and  his  house  were  saved.  Philip  preach- 
ed the  atonement  to  the  Ethiopian  treasurer,  and  here  both 
to  Lydia  and  the  jailer  Paul  rehearsed  that  which  has  now 
become  "the  old,  old  story,"  but  was  then  the  new^  and  star- 
tling history  "  of  Jesus  and  his  love."  Understand,  there- 
fore, that  it  is  only  through  the  intelligent  belief  of  the  Gos- 
pel, not  simply  as  a  statement  of  facts,  but  also  and  especial- 
ly as  good  news  having  a  direct  and  personal  bearing  on  the 
individual  himself,  that  the  soul  is  converted.  Some  four 
years  ago,  as  I  was  leaving  this  house  on  a  Sabbath  morn- 
ing after  service,  I  was  waited  upon  by  a  young  man  whom 
I  had  known  in  the  Old  Country.  He  told  me  that  he  had 
quarrelled  with  his  father,  and  had  come  off  here  to  be  his 
own  master.  He  wanted  guidance  and  assistance.  I  spoke 
to  him  a  few  earnest  words,  and  appointed  him  a  day  on 
which  he  should  come  to  my  house,  when  I  should  see  w^iat 
I  could  do  for  him.  The  day  came  and  went,  but  he  did 
not  make  his  appearance,  and  I  began  to  fear  that  he  had 
fallen  into  evil  company ;  but  before  the  week  was  out  he 
called  upon  me,  so  changed  in  appearance  that  I  hardly  rec- 
ognized him.  The  despondency,  mingled  with  defiance,  had 
gone  out  of  his  face,  and  he  seemed  bright  and  happy.  I 
asked  why  he  had  not  kept  his  appointment,  and  he  replied, 


238  Paul  the  Missionary. 

"  Because  I  have  a  letter  from  my  father  forgiving  me,  and 
beseeching  me  to  return.  I  feel  I  must  go  back ;  yet  I  want- 
ed to  see  Niagara  first,  and  I  ran  up  there  knowing  that  I 
could  come  to  you  again ;  but  I  am  going  to  sail  to-morrow 
for  home,  for  I  must  go  back,  I  must  go  back !"  The  youth 
believed  his  father's  word,  and  returned  to  his  father's  house. 
So  it  is  here.  The  Gospel  is  God's  letter  to  the  self-exiled 
sinner  entreating  him  to  return,  and  promising  him  forgive- 
ness. When  a  sinner  recognizes  that  the  letter  is  addressed 
to  him  personally,  and  goes  back — that  is  a  conversion.  It 
is  taking  God's  word  as  addressed  to  you,  counting  it  true, 
and  acting  according.     That  is  the  human  side. 

But  on  the  divine  side  God  opens  the  heart  to  attend  to 
the  Gospel.  "  The  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of 
the  spirit  of  God  :  neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they 
are  spiritually  discerned."  Therefore,  in  every  conversion 
there  is  a  concurrence  of  the  divine  agency  with  the  human 
instrumentality.  But  when  we  ask  how  the  spirit  of  God 
thus  operates  directly  on  the  heart,  we  find  ourselves  at 
once  in  a  region  that  is  beyond  our  ken.  All  we  know  is 
comprised  in  these  statements,  namely,  that  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  heart  is  not  an  object  of  its  con- 
sciousness, as  distinct  from  the  ordinary  operations  of  what 
we  call  its  own  faculties ;  that  it  does  not  reveal  to  the  heart 
any  new  truths  not  already  in  the  Gospel ;  that  it  does  not 
confer  any  new  powers  upon  the  soul ;  and  that  it  does  no 
violence  to  our  own  free  agency,  being  exerted  in  a  way 
that  is  perfectly  in  harmony  with  the  spiritual  constitution 
which  God  has  given  us.  All  these  things  are  perfectly 
clear  from  the  two  cases  which  have  been  to-night  before 
us,  and  they  are  attested  by  the  experience  of  every  believer 
among  us.  But  farther  than  this  we  cannot  go.  The  up- 
shot of  the  whole  matter  may  be  given  in  the  following 
propositions :   In  the  conversion  of  the  soul  God  has  his 


Paul  at  Philippi.  239 

work,  and  we  have  ours  ;  as  we  cannot  do  God's  work,  God 
will  not  do  ours ;  therefore  the  necessity  of  the  divine 
agency  does  not  absolve  us  from  the  responsibility  of  em- 
ploying the  human ;  and  when  we  seek  to  do  our  part,  we 
shall  find  that  God  has  already  performed  his.  When,  at 
the  bidding  of  Jesus,  the  man  willed  and  attempted  to  stretch 
out  his  withered  arm,  he  found  that  the  strength  to  do  so 
had  already  been  imparted ;  and  when  we  will  to  believe  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  shall  discover  that  the  Lord  has 
anticipated  us  by  the  opening  of  our  hearts.  There  is  here, 
therefore,  no  reason  whatever  for  "waiting  for  the  spirit," 
as  many  phrase  it,  but  every  reason  for  immediately  com- 
plying with  God's  pressing  and  personal  command.  God 
cannot  save  you  unless  you  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; 
and  when  you  have  believed,  though  you  cannot  unravel  the 
metaphysics  of  the  case,  you  will  yourself  be  the  first  to  ac- 
knowledge that  you  have  done  so  because  the  Lord  opened 
your  heart. 

We  have  here,  in  the  second  place,  the  federal  unity  of 
the  household  in  its  head.  We  too  frequently  misquote 
Paul's  command  to  the  jailer  by  leaving  out  the  last  three 
w^ords,  "and  thy  house."  But  this  ought  not  to  be  lost 
sight  of  by  us.  It  is  customary  to  refer  to  the  baptism  of 
these  two  households  as  confirmatory  of  the  practice  of  in- 
fant baptism ;  and  unquestionably,  whether  there  were  in- 
fants in  either  of  them  or  not,  it  has  its  weight  in  that  par- 
ticular, though  for  myself  I  am  more  disposed  to  rest  on 
the  identity  of  the  Church  of  God  through  all  the  dispensa- 
tions— Abrahamic,  Mosaic,  and  Christian — the  sign  of  ini- 
tiation only  being  changed.  But  what  I  want  to  bring  out 
now  is,  that  the  household  is  dealt  with  as  a  unit  on  the  faith 
of  its  head.  Jesus  said  to  Zacchaeus,  "  This  day  is  salva- 
tion come  to  this  house ;"  and  Paul  said  to  the  jailer,  "  Be- 
lieve on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved. 


240  Paul  the  Missionary. 

and  thy  house."  The  conversion  of  the  head  of  a  house- 
hold sanctifies  the  household,  and  must  have,  cannot  but 
have,  an  effect  on  all  its  members.  It  brings  them  in  a  very 
true  sense  into  the  kingdom,  for  where  the  head  of  the  house- 
hold goes  he  takes  the  household  with  him.  When  I  was 
called  from  Liverpool  to  take  the  pastorate  of  this  church, 
my  acceptance  of  that  call  transferred  my  household  to  this 
land ;  and,  similarly,  when  a  parent  is  effectually  called  by 
God's  spirit  so  that  he  enters  the  Church,  he  brings  his 
household  with  him.  He  is  not  really  converted  if  he  do 
not.  We  all  recognize  that,  whether  we  baptize  infants  or 
not ;  though  to  me  infant  baptism  is  a  beautiful  seal  of  the 
family  unity,  and  stands  intimately  related  to  the  fact  Ihat 
the  family  is  regarded  as  God's  ordinance,  for  the  training 
of  its  members  for  Christ.  I  know  our  Baptist  brethren  ad- 
mit that  as  really  as  we  do.  Yet  we  are  all  too  apt  to  forget 
in  practice  what  we  assent  to  in  theory,  and  I  am  therefore 
disposed  to  emphasize,  in  connection  with  these  conversions, 
the  importance  of  the  household  as  a  school  for  Christ.  Has 
salvation  come  through  our  faith  to  our  families  ?  that  is  the 
question  which  rises  out  of  Paul's  command  to  the  jailer, 
and  I  could  wish  to  press  it  home  to  the  heart  of  every  par- 
ent in  the  audience  ;  for  if  our  piety  has  no  influence  in  the 
household,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  it  is  piety  at  all. 

Finally,  we  have  here  an  illustration  of  the  sustaining 
power  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  Paul  and  Silas  sung  at 
midnight  in  the  prison,  though  they  were  loaded  with  fetters 
and  writhing  in  pain.  They  had  "  meat  to  eat "  of  which  their 
adversaries  knew  not ;  and  the  happiness  of  their  hearts  was 
such  that  they  could  not  choose  but  give  it  utterance  in 
praise.  Nor  is  this  a  solitary  instance  in  the  history  of  the 
Christian  Church.  I  think  of  the  gentle  Anne  Askew  writ- 
ing, on  the  night  before  her  execution,  that  exquisite  lyric 
in  which  these  words  occur  : 


Paul  at  Philippi.  241 

"  I  am  not  she  that  list 
Her  anchor  to  let  fall 
For  every  drizzling  mist ; 
My  ship's  substantial." 

I  think  of  the  good  Lord  William  Russell  winding  up  his 
watch  for  the  last  time  on  the  eve  of  his  execution,  and  say- 
ing, "  There  !  I  have  done  with  time  !  now  eternity  comes." 
I  think  of  that  scene  in  the  life  of  the  noble  Argyle  por- 
trayed on  one  of  the  frescoes  in  the  corridor  of  the  House 
of  Lords  in  London,  and  so  graphically  described  by  the 
pen  of  Macaulay,  when  he  lay  in  his  last  sleep  as  calm  and 
peaceful  as  a  child,  and  by  the  very  placidness  of  his  repose 
struck  remorse  into  the  heart  of  the  traitor  who  had  betrayed 
him  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies ;  and  as  I  pass  all  these 
in  review  before  me,  I  am  constrained  to  say, "  The  Word  of 
the  Lord  is  tried P'  The  promise  that  could  bear  the  strain 
of  such  trials  is  enough  for  me.  The  cable  that  stood  the 
storms  to  which  these  holy  ones  were  exposed  will  not  snap 
in  my  extremity.  The  Lord,  who  was  with  them,  will  be  with 
me ;  and  what  they  have  tested  I  may  t7'iist.  So  let  us  go 
forth  to-night  with  stronger  confidence  than  ever  in  the 
grand  old  promise,  "Lo !  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world." 


XIII. 

THESSALONICA  AND  BEREA. 

Acts  xvii.,  1-14. 

THE  first  thing  to  be  noted  in  this  section  of  the  his- 
tory is,  that  we  have  here  again  a  change  in  the  per- 
sonal pronoun  used  by  the  writer.  From  the  tenth  verse  of 
the  sixteenth  chapter  on  to  the  fortieth,  Luke  includes  him- 
self with  Paul  and  his  companions  in  the  "we"  which  he 
employs  ;  but  now  that  the  missionary  band  leave  Philippi, 
he  returns  to  the  third  person  "  they ;"  and  it  is  not  until 
we  come  to  the  sixth  verse  of  the  twentieth  chapter,  when, 
some  years  after,  Paul  was  leaving  Philippi  for  Troas  on  his 
way  to  Jerusalem,  that  the  first  person  is  resumed.  It  is 
possible,  therefore,  that  the  evangelist  remained  during  the 
entire  interval  at  Philippi,  though  there  is  no  absolute  cer- 
tainty attainable  in  the  matter;  but  if  he  did  continue  so 
long  there,  then  we  can  the  better  understand  how,  under 
his  influence,  the  Christians  of  that  city  came  to  be  so 
thoughtful  of  the  comfort  of  the  apostle. 

Not  less  interesting  to  the  intelligent  student  is  the  ac- 
curacy of  the  order  in  which  Luke  names  the  places  passed 
by  the  travellers  in  their  journey  from  Philippi  to  Thessa- 
lonica.  The  route  lay  along  the  Egnatian  way,  to  which  we 
have  already  referred,  and  in  the  ancient  guide-books  the 
distances  are  given  thus:  Philippi  to  Amphipolis, thirty-three 
miles  ;  Amphipolis  to  ApoUonia,  thirty  miles  ;  Apollonia  to 
Thessalonica,  thirty-seven  miles.     Perhaps  the  intervening 


Thessalonica  and  Berea.  243 

towns  had  no  Jewish  population  among  whom  Paul  could 
find,  as  it  were,  a  fulcrum  for  the  lever  which  he  loved  to 
use,  and  so  he  pushed  on  to  Thessalonica.  That  city  stood 
at  the  head  of  the  Thermaic  Gulf.  It  was  originally  called 
Therma,  but  being  rebuilt  and  embellished  by  Cassander,  it 
was  named  by  him  Thessalonica,  in  honor  of  his  v*^ife,  who 
was  a  sister  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and,  in  its  corrupted 
form  Saloniki,  that  name  continues  till  this  day.  Under 
the  Roman  Republic  it  was  the  capital  of  one  of  the  four 
districts  into  which  Macedonia  was  divided ;  and  after  the 
victory  won  by  Anthony  and  Octavius  at  Philippi,it  received 
from  the  conquerors  the  privileges  of  a  free  city.  From  its 
excellent  maritime  position,  it  was  from  the  first  an  impor- 
tant seaport ;  and  in  the  days  of  the  apostle  it  was  a  centre 
in  which  men  from  many  quarters  met,  as  they  do  in  Liv- 
erpool or  New  York,  and  from  which,  therefore,  the  Gospel 
might  radiate  in  almost  all  directions.  Probably  his  percep- 
tion of  this  centrifugal  influence  was  one  of  the  things  which 
led  Paul  to  choose  it  at  this  time  as  a  field  of  labor,  and  if 
that  was  so,  the  result  did  not  disappoint  his  expectations  ; 
for  not  long  after  his  visit  to  the  city  we  find  him  writing 
to  the  converts  whom  he  had  left  behind  him  there,  "  From 
you  sounded  out  the  word  of  the  Lord  not  only  in  Macedo- 
nia and  Achaia,  but  also  in  every  place"  your  faith  to  God- 
ward  is  spread  abroad."* 

Its  commercial  eminence  attracted  many  Jews  to  its  site, 
and,  indeed,  at  this  day,  out  of  a  population  of  from  70,000 
to  80,000,  there  are  more  than  50,000  Israelites.  Naturally, 
therefore,  there  would  be  many  synagogues ;  but  there  was 
one  of  these,  apparently,  more  prominent  than  the  rest — for 
in  the  original  it  is  emphatically  designated  the  synagogue 
— and  to  that,  according  to  his  custom  of  preaching  "  to  the 

I  Thess.  i.,  8. 


244  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Jew  first,"  Paul  went  and  proclaimed  the  message  which  he 
brought. 

We  have  had  occasion  already  to  remark  how  the  apostle 
adapted  his  presentation  of  the  Gospel  to  the  stand-point 
occupied  by  his  hearers.  Among  the  heathen  at  Lystra, 
he  stood  on  the  ground  of  what  is  commonly  known  as 
natural  religion,  and  reasoned  up  to  "  the  living  God,  who 
made  heaven  and  earth  and  the  sea,  and  all  things  that  are 
therein ;"  and,  as  we  shall  see  in  our  next  discourse,  he  fol- 
lowed the  same  course  when  he  was  addressing  the  men  of 
Athens.  But  when  he  was  in  the  synagogues  of  the  Jews, 
he  reasoned  with  men  out  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures, 
for  those  whom  he  there  addressed  already  admitted  the 
inspiration  and  authority  of  the  books  of  Moses  and  the 
prophets.  In  every  argument  which  we  have  with  another 
there  must  be  some  proposition  laid  down  to  which  both 
parties  agree,  else  we  never  can  come  to  a  satisfactory  con- 
clusion. In  the  language  of  logicians,  this  mutually  admit- 
ted statement  is  called  the  major  premise  of  the  syllogism, 
and  the  effort  of  the  reasoner  is  put  forth  to  show  that  the 
conceding  of  that,  to  which  both  alike  assent,  involves  in  it 
also  the  yielding  up  of  the  matter  which  is  still  in  debate. 
Now,  from  the  description  here  given,  we  find  that  Paul  took 
it  for  granted  that  his  Jewish  hearers  would  accept  what 
could  be  fairly  deduced  from  their  own  Scriptures.  They 
reverenced  these  writings  equally  with  himself.  They  be- 
lieved, as  truly  as  he  did,  that  the  prophets  foretold  the 
coming  of  the  Christ,  and  described  the  manner  of  his  ap- 
pearance and  the  purpose  of  his  advent.  Hence,  as  the 
foundation  principle  of  his  argument  with  them,  we  have  al- 
ways this  proposition  implied :  He  who  shall  perfectly  an- 
swer to  the  ancient  prophecies  concerning  Messiah  must  be 
accepted  by  us  as  the  Messiah.  Now,  in  proceeding  along 
this  line,  it  was  essential  that  he  should  expound  what  the 


Thessalonica  and  Berea.  245 

Messianic  prophecies  really  meant;  and  in  doing  that  he 
was  very  particular  to  show  that  "  the  Christ  "*  is  deline- 
ated in  the  Old  Testament  as  one  who  was  to  "  suffer  and 
rise  again  from  the  dead."  That,  indeed,  was  the  very  op- 
posite of  the  common  Jewish  notion  ;  for,  unable  to  recon- 
cile the  two  apparently  inconsistent  descriptions  of  Messiah 
which  they  found  in  their  Scriptures,  the  one  depicting  a 
mighty  conqueror,  and  the  other  portraying  "  a  man  of  sor- 
rows and  acquainted  with  grief ;"  or  perhaps  taken  up  ex- 
clusively with  the  former  of  these,  and  enamored  of  its 
brightness,  they  ignored  altogether  the  latter,  and  expected 
their  deliverer  as  a  temporal  prince.  For  that  reason  Paul 
gave  prominence  to  the  truth  that  in  the  Old  Testament 
the  Christ  is  described  as  one  vrho  was  to  suffer,  and  to  rise 
from  the  grave.  The  first  portion  of  his  discourse,  there- 
fore, would  be  expository,  and  v.'ould  consist  in  a  presenta- 
tion and  explanation  of  the  Messianic  prophecies  in  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures.  We  are  not  told  what  those  passages 
were  on  which  he  laid  the  greatest  stress,  but,  judging  from 
the  line  of  remark  which  he  adopted  in  Antioch  of  Pisidia, 
we  may  suppose  that  he  referred  again  to  the  sixteenth 
Psalm,  and  showed  that  it  could  not  be  applied  to  David, 
but  must  be  regarded  as  pointing  to  one  who  should  be  laid 
in  the  grave,  and  yet  not  allowed  to  see  corruption  ;  or,  tak- 
ing up  the  fift}^-third  chapter  of  Isaiah,  he  might  point  out 
how  in  the  earlier  portion  of  that  marvellous  section  of 
prophecy  Messiah  is  spoken  of  as  a  sufferer,  and  in  the 
later  he  is  portrayed  as  a  conqueror,  an  order  and  mode  of 
delineation  which  is  consistent  only  with  a  submission  to 
death,  and  a  subsequent  triumph  over  the  grave.  We  who 
have  been  so  long  accustomed  to  read  the  Old  Testament 


*  The  original  has  the  article,  and  the  meaning  is  better  brought  out 
by  rendering  "the  Christ,"  or  "the  Messiah. " 


246  Paul  the  Missionary. 

in  the  light  of  the  New  can  scarcely  understand  how  any 
mistake  could  have  arisen  among  the  Jews  upon  this  sub- 
ject j  yet  it  is  perfectly  plain  that  they  never  for  a  moment 
imagined  .that  their  Messiah  was  to  be  crucified.  The  cross 
was  their  great  stumbling-block;  and  it  was  so  because 
they  read  only  one  class  of  prophecies.  They  looked  only 
at  one  side  of  the  shield.  They  were  so  dazzled  with  the 
splendor  of  Messiah's  royalty,  that  they  lost  sight  both  of 
the  spiritual  nature  of  his  kingdom,  and  of  the  terrible  hu- 
miliation through  which  he  was  to  pass  to  his  throne.  We 
may  be  sure,  therefore,  that,  with  the  rolls  of  the  ancient 
Scriptures  spread  out  before  him,  and  verifying  from  them 
every  statement  which  he  made,  Paul  would  spend  much  of 
his  strength  on  this  first  portion  of  his  address,  wherein  he 
showed  that  the  Christ  was  to  be  a  sufferer,  and  was  to  rise 
from  the  dead. 

The  second  branch  of  his  argument  was  historical,  and 
was  designed  to  prove  that  the  person  and  life  and  work  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  fitted  into  and  fulfilled  the  predictions 
of  the  prophets  concerning  the  Christ.  Here  it  is  proba- 
ble that  he  would  dwell  on  the  birthplace,  lineage,  and  work 
of  Jesus,  setting  before  his  hearers  that  marvellous  twofold- 
ness  in  his  history  which  corresponds  so  perfectly  to  the 
mystic  dualism — if  I  may  call  it  so — which  he  had  already 
exhibited  in  the  delineations  of  the  Messiah  given  by  the 
prophets. 

Never  were  contrasts  more  startling  in  a  life  than  those 
which  are  to  be  found  in  that  of  the  Son  of  Mary.  He  lay, 
a  helpless  infant,  on  his  mother's  knee )  yet  shepherds,  hav- 
ing received  an  angelic  message,  came  to  worship  him  as 
the  Saviour,  Christ— the  Lord.  He  received  gifts  from  the 
Magi,  who  came  from  far  to  do  him  honor ;  yet  he  was  com- 
pelled to  flee  into  a  foreign  land  from  the  cruelty  of  Herod. 
At  his  baptism  a  voice  from  the  excellent  glory  greeted  him 


Thessalonica  and  Berea.  247 

as  God's  beloved  son,  yet  that  was  followed  by  a  fierce 
encounter  with  the  Prince  of  Darkness.  He  fed  the  multi- 
tudes upon  the  mountain -side  with  heavenly  bounty;  yet, 
with  a  pathos  which  is  tenderer  than  tears,  he  said,  "  Foxes 
have  holes,  and  birds  of  the  air  have  nests ;  but  the  Son  of 
man  hath  not  where  to  lay  his  head."  He  died  on  a  cross 
of  agony  and  shame,  and  was  beholden  to  charity  for  a 
grave ;  yet,  on  the  third  day,  he  came  forth  from  the  sealed 
and  guarded  sepulchre  to  say,  with  even  stronger  empha- 
sis than  at  the  tomb  of  Lazarus,  "  I  am  the  Resurrection 
and  the  Life."  "  Now,"  we  may  suppose  that  Paul  would 
argue,  "beware  of  committing  the  same  mistake  with  this 
history  which  you  have  committed  with  the  prophecies  which 
foretold  it.  Take  it  as  a  whole.  Regard  it  not  as  com- 
posed of  two  irreconcilable  portions,  one  of  which  must  be 
conclusively  set  aside,  but  as  a  unit,  and  see  the  explanation 
of  the  apparent  enigma  in  the  fact  that  he  in  whom  these 
contradictions  met  is  the  Messiah,  the  God-man,  who  came 
to  bear  our  sins  and  carry  our  sorrows ;  and  who,  having 
died  for  our  offences,  has  risen  again  for  our  justification. 
I  have  shown  you  that  the  Christ  of  prophecy  must  needs 
suffer  and  rise.  Here  in  history  is  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who 
has  suffered  death  and  risen  from  the  grave ;  must  not, 
therefore,  your  belief  in  the  sacred  oracles  lead  you  to  be- 
lief in  him  as  the  Messiah  of  God  ?" 

As  the  result  of  this  argument,  maintained  in  the  syna- 
gogue for  three  consecutive  Sabbaths,  some  believed,  and 
some  believed  not.  Of  the  converts  the  greater  number  were 
from  the  Greek  prosel3^tes,  and  some  were  women  of  distinc- 
tion in  the  city ;  but  few  of  them,  comparatively  speaking, 
were  pure  Jews.  I  infer  this,  not  only  from  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  "some,"  which  refers  to  the  Jews  in  the  first  clause 
of  the  fourth  verse,  and  "the  great  multitude,"  which  refers 
to  the  proselytes  in  the  latter  portion  of  the  same  verse,  but 

II* 


248  Paul  the  Missionary. 

also  from  the  distinction  made  between  the  Jews  of  Thessa- 
lonica  and  those  of  Berea  in  the  eleventh  verse ;  and  from 
the  fact  that  in  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians  the 
Church  is  described  as  so  thoroughly  Gentile  in  its  char- 
acter, that,  if  we  had  known  nothing  further  about  it  than 
is  there  implied,  we  would  hardly  have  supposed  that  any 
Jews  were  among  its  members.  Hence  I  come  to  the  fur- 
ther conclusion  that  Paul  was  some  little  time  longer  in 
Thessalonica  than  the  three  weeks  of  which  alone  mention 
is  made  in  the  narrative  of  Luke ;  and  this  seems  to  be 
confinned  by  many  incidental  references  in  the  two  letters 
which  he  afterward  sent  to  the  Christians  there.  Finding, 
as  I  suppose,  that  no  marked  success  was  to  be  had  among 
the  Jews,  he  turned,  as  his  custom  was,  unto  the  Gentiles, 
and  was  rewarded  by  the  conversion  of  many  to  the  faith ; 
for  he  says,  "  Our  Gospel  came  not  unto  you  in  word  only, 
but  also  in  power,  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  in  much  as- 
surance ;"*  and  again, "  For  they  themselves  show  of  us  what 
manner  of  entering  in  w^e  had  unto  you,  and  how  ye  turned 
to  God  from  idols  to  serve  the  living  and  true  God."t  It 
thus  appears  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  Thessalonian 
converts  had  come  directly  from  idolatry ;  and  therefore  we 
must  conclude  that  Paul's  labors  were  not  limited  to  those 
who  frequented  the  synagogue.  Further,  we  learn  that  his 
success  among  them  greatly  touched  his  heart,  and  brought 
out  the  full  tenderness  of  his  nature  ;  for  he  says,  "  We  were 
gentle  among  you,  even  as  a  nurse  cherisheth  her  children : 
so,  being  affectionately  desirous  of  you,  we  were  willing  to 
have  imparted  unto  you,  not  the  gospel  of  God  only  but  also 
our  own  souls,  because  ye  were  dear  unto  us ;"  and  again, 
*'  Ye  know  how  we  exhorted  and  comforted  and  charged  ev- 
ery one  of  you,  as  a  father  doth  his  children."!     Perhaps, 

*  I  Thess.i.,  5.  t  i  Thess.  i.,9.  J  i  Thess.  ii.,  7,  8,  11. 


Thessalonica  and  Berea.  249 

also,  there  is  a  reference  to  the  antagonism  which,  after  his 
first  interviews  with  them,  the  Jews  manifested  toward  him 
when  he  says,  "We  were  bold  in  our  God  to  speak  unto  you 
the  gospel  of  God  with  much  contention."* 

How  much  longer  than  the  three  weeks  specified  by  Luke 
he  actually  remained  in  this  important  city  we  cannot  tell, 
but  he  stayed  long  enough  to  receive  two  substantial  gifts 
which  were  sent  by  the  brethren  from  Philippi  ;t  and  in 
connection  with  our  mention  of  that  fact  we  are  reminded  of 
one  feature  of  his  self-sacrifice,  which  is  again  and  again  al- 
luded to  in  his  letters,  and  must  on  no  account  be  overlook- 
ed by  us.  I  allude  to  the  circumstance  that  he  absolutely 
refused  to  take  anything  from  the  Thessalonian  converts  for 
his  support.  He  did  this,  not  because  he  had  no  proper 
claim  upon  them,  for  he  everywhere  insists  that  he  "  that  is 
taught  in  the  word  should  communicate  to  him  that  teach- 
eth  in  all  good  things  ;"$  but  because  of  certain  peculiarities 
in  their  case  which  in  his  view  made  it  expedient  for  him  to 
forego  that  right.  How,  then,  was  he  supported  >  He  shall 
tell  us  himself:  "Ye  remember,  brethren,  our  labor  and 
travail :  for  laboring  night  and  day,  because  we  would  not 
be  chargeable  unto  any  of  you,  we  preached  unto  you  the 
gospel  of  God  ;"  and  again,  "  Yourselves  know  how  ye  ought 
to  follow  us  :  for  we  behaved  not  ourselves  disorderly  among 
you  ;  neither  did  we  eat  any  man's  bread  for  naught ;  but 
wrought  with  labor  and  travail  night  and  day,  that  v/e  might 
not  be  chargeable  to  any  of  you."§  We  are  to  think,  then, 
of  our  apostle  working  all  day  in  his  missionar}^  enterprise, 
and  then  toiling  far  into  the  night  making  the  tent-cloth  for 
which  his  native  city  was  famous,  in  order  that  he  might  ob- 
tain food  and  raiment.     Yet  that  he  had  no  scruple  about 


I  Thess.  ii.,  2.  t  Phil,  iv.,  15,  16.  f  Gal.  vi. 

I  Thess.  ii.,  9  ;  2  Thess.  iii.,  7,  8. 


250  Paul  the  Missionary. 

receiving  from  others,  when  he  could  do  so  without  being 
misunderstood,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  he  regarded  the 
kindness  of  the  Philippians  to  him  at  this  very  time  with 
gratitude,  and  spoke  of  it  as  "an  odor  of  a  sweet  smell,  a 
sacrifice  acceptable,  well-pleasing  to  God."* 

How,  then,  shall  we  explain  his  rigid  preservation  of  his 
own  independence  among  the  Thessalonians  ?  The  answer 
to  this  inquiry  seems  to  me  to  be  suggested  by  himself  in 
the  letters  from  which  we  have  already  so  abundantly  quoted ; 
for  we  learn  from  them  that  there  was  among  the  converts 
in  Thessalonica  a  disposition  to  neglect  their  work  and  live 
in  idleness.  Thus  in  one  place  he  exhorts  them  to  "  study 
to  be  quiet,  and  to  do  their  own  business,  and  to  work  with 
their  own  hands  j"  and  in  another,  in  special  connection  with 
a  reference  to  his  own  example,  he  says,  "We  made  not  our- 
selves chargeable  unto  you,  to  make  ourselves  an  ensam- 
ple  unto  you  to  follow  us ;  for  even  when  we  were  with  you, 
this  we  commanded  you,  that  if  any  would  not  work,  neither 
should  he  eat.  For  we  hear  that  there  are  some  which  walk 
among  you  disorderly,  working  not  at  all,  but  are  busy-bod- 
ies. Now  them  that  are  such  we  command  and  exhort  by 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  with  quietness  they  work,  and  eat 
their  own  bread. "t  For  the  sake,  therefore,  of  these  sinful 
and  misguided  ones,  and  in  order  that,  so  far  from  encour- 
aging them  by  his  apparent  dependence  on  others,  he  might 
sharply  reprove  them  by  his  conduct,  he  wrought  at  his 
trade  for  his  support.  What  an  insight  does  this  give  us 
into  the  wisdom  and  self-sacrifice  of  our  apostle  ?  His  one 
aim  was  to  preach  the  Gospel ;  and  no  labor  was  too  ardu- 
ous, nor  any  self-denial  too  severe,  if  only  he  succeeded  in 
advancing  that  cause  to  which  he  had  given  his  life.  He 
cared  not  for  the  world,  or  for  the  world's  things.    He  could 

*  Phil,  iv.,  18.  '      t  I  Thess.  iv.,  11 ;  2  Thess.  ili.,  9-1 1. 


Thessalonica  and  Berea.  251 

say  to  all  his  hearers,  "  I  seek  not  yours,  but  you."     The 
only  property  he  desired  was  property  in  human  souls,  saved 
and  sanctified  through  his  instrumentality,  and  to  acquire 
that  he  would  undergo  any  fatigue  and  endure  any  hard- 
ship.    Like  the  good  evangelist  depicted  by  the  immortal 
dreamer,  Paul  appeared  before  the  Thessalonians,  "having 
eyes  lifted  up  to  heaven,  the  best  of  books  in  his  hand,  the 
law  of  truth  written  on  his  lips,  the  world  behind  his  back, 
and  standing  as  if  he  pleaded  with  men."*     Let  every  min- 
ister of  Christ  study  this  picture,  and  seek  by  God's  grace  to 
reproduce  his  undying  activity  and  ungrudging  self-sacrifice. 
The  great  success  which  attended  his  labors  among  the 
Gentiles  naturally  exasperated  the  Jews,  and,  like  their  kins- 
men in  the  Eisidian  Antioch,  they  roused  against  him  the 
violence   of  persecution.      Leaguing  themselves  with   the 
loungers  in  the  market-place,  and  that  low  element  of  the 
population  which  in  all  large  cities  is  at  any  moment  ready 
for  mischief,  they  gathered  a  mob,  assaulted  the  house  of 
Jason,  in  which  Paul  and  Silas  seem  to  have  lodged,  and 
sought  to  drag  them  out  into  the  streets.     But,  baffled  in 
their  efforts  to  get  hold  of  the  missionaries,  they  took  Jason 
and  certain  brethren   unto   the  rulers  of  the  city,  saying, 
"  These  that  have  turned  the  world  upside  down  are  come 
hither  also,  and  they  all  do  contrary  to  the  decrees  of  C^sar, 
saying  that  there  is  another  king— one  Jesus."    Thus  again, 
as  at  Philippi,  another  than  the  real  cause  of  enmity  is  al- 
leged by  those  who  drag  the  servants  of  God  to  the  judg- 
ment-seat.    It  was  nothing  wonderful  that  slave-masters  in 
a  Roman  colony  should  have  been  zealous  for  Roman  law, 
but  that  Jews  should  affect  loyalty  to  Caesar,  and  be  con- 
cerned for  the  maintenance  of  his  authority,  was  almost  too 
ridiculous.    Yet,  because  that  was  the  sole  grround  on  which 


*  Banyan's  "Pilgrim's  Progress.' 


252  Paul  the  Missionary. 

they  could  ask  for  the  interference  of  the  magistrates  in  a 
free  city,  they  did  not  scruple  to  take  it.  The  rulers  seem 
to  have  understood  pretty  well  how  the  matter  lay;  for, 
though  they  could  not  ignore  such  a  charge,  they  showed 
their  suspicion  that  it  was  not  seriously  made  by  being  con- 
tent to  take  bail  of  Jason  and  of  the  others,  and  then  letting 
them  go.  This  security,  however,  was  not  given  for  the 
production  of  Paul  and  Silas,  nor  even  for  the  after-appear- 
ance of  Jason  and  his  companions  before  them,  but  either 
for  their  abstaining  from  everything  that  might  seem  to  be 
treasonable,  or  for  the  peaceable  conveyance  of  the  strangers 
out  of  the  city.  At  all  events,  under  the  cloud  of  night  they 
did  send  away  the  two  missionaries,  who  journeyed  on  to 
Berea.  This  town  was  fifty-one  miles  to  the  south-west  of 
Thessalonica,  and  stood  on  low  ground  at  the  base  of  Mount 
Bermius,  which  was  a  part  of  the  Olympian  range.  It  was 
probably  chosen  by  Paul  at  this  time  because  it  was  not  on 
the  line  of  the  Egnatian  road,  and  so  not  quite  so  likely  to 
be  visited  by  those  adversaries  who  had  risen  against  them 
in  Thessalonica.*  But  even  here  they  were  followed  by 
the  implacable  enmity  of  their  Jewish  antagonists,  though 
before  they  were  interfered  with  they  had  the  satisfaction 
of  being  useful  to  many  souls ;  for,  entering  as  usual  into 
the  Jewish  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath,  they  found  their  kins- 
men characterized  by  unwonted  candor,  and  disposed  to 
make  earnest  inquiry  into  the  Scriptural  foundation  for  the 
views  which  Paul  advanced  concerning  the  person,  history, 

*  Lewin  (vol.  i.,  p.  236)  quotes  from  Cicero  a  passage  which  is  rather 
remarkable  for  its  coincidences,  as  well  as  for  its  contrasts  with  the  nar- 
rative of  Luke.  The  orator  is  inveighing  against  Piso,  whose  base  prac- 
tices would  not  allow  him  to  face  the  people,  and  he  says,  "  You  came  to 
Thessalonica  without  the  knowledge  of  any,  and  by  night ;  and  when  you 
could  not  endure  the  laments  of  the  mourners  and  the  storm  of  complaints, 
you  stole  away  to  the  secluded  town  of  Berea." 


Thessalonica  and  Berea.  253 

and  work  of  the  Messiah.  As  the  result  of  their  examina- 
tion, many  of  them  beheved,  and,  along  with  these  Jews,  a 
large  number  of  proselytes,  both  male  and  female,  were  con- 
verted. It  was  a  pleasant  oasis  for  Paul  and  Silas ;  but  they 
were  not  long  permitted  to  enjoy  its  cooling  waters  and  its 
palmy  shade,  for  soon  their  Thessalonian  enemies  appeared, 
and,  as  Paul  was  the  special  object  of  their  malice,  the  breth- 
ren sent  him  off  to  go,  as  it  were,  by  the  sea,  keeping  Timo- 
thy and  Silas  a  little  longer  with  themselves.  While,  there- 
fore, the  great  apostle  is  proceeding  to  Athens,  there  to  en- 
counter human  philosophy  on  its  loftiest  seat,  let  us  pause 
for  a  time,  and  glean  the  lessons  which  this  chapter  of  his 
history  is  calculated  to  enforce. 

We  are  reminded,  in  the  first  place,  that  we  m.ust  not 
abandon  our  work  because  of  difficulties  in  its  prosecution. 
I  have  wondered  much,  as  I  have  gone  over  these  two  chap- 
ters of  apostolic  history,  at  the  unfaltering  courage  and  un- 
failing faith  of  Paul.  Recall  that  vision  which  he  beheld 
at  Troas,  when  a  man  of  Macedonia  stood  before  him  and 
prayed  him,  saying,  "  Come  over  into  Macedonia,  and  help 
us ;"  then  observe  how,  from  the  time  he  came  into  Mace- 
donia, he  has  been  opposed  and  "shamefully  entreated." 
At  Philippi  he'  was  scourged  and  imprisoned,  and  his  feet 
put  into  the  stocks ;  at  Thessalonica  he  was  mobbed,  and 
had  to  be  secretly  and  by  night  conveyed  out  of  the  city ; 
and  again  at  Berea  he  was  assailed  by  a  rabble,  instigated 
by  those  who  had  accused  him  in  Thessalonica ;  yet  there 
is  no  record  of  any  questioning  on  his  part  of  the  wisdom 
or  rightness  of  his  course.  We  do  not  hear  him  saying, 
"  Can  it  be  that  the  Lord  has  sent  me  to  this  land,  when  I 
am  driven  thus  from  city  to  city  ?  Would  it  not  be  better 
for  me  to  return  to  those  churches  on  the  Asiatic  shore, 
whose  members  were  so  devotedly  attached  to  me."  There 
were  no  such  misgivings  in  his  heart;  there  were  no  such 


254  Paul  the  Missionary. 

backward  looks  from  his  eyes.  He  had  put  his  hand  to 
the  plough,  and  he  would  go  through  with  the  furrow.  He 
would  take  no  steps  backward  j  and  so,  in  spite  of  the  an- 
tagonism which  he  had  to  encounter,  he  "  bated  not  one 
jot  of  heart  or  hope,  but  still  bore  up,  and  steered  right  on- 
ward." He  did  not  give  up  his  commission  because  he  had 
to  fight ;  but  he  held  on  at  his  work,  and  even  in  the  midst 
of  his  trials  he  did  much  that  lived  in  permanent  result. 
The  Philippian  Church  had  for  many  years  a  history  of 
honor;  and  of  Thessalonica  it  has  been  said  by  Howson 
that  "  No  city  which  we  have  yet  had  occasion  to  describe 
has  had  so  distinguished  a  Christian  history,  with  the  single 
exception  of  the  Syrian  Antioch.  ...  It  was  the  bulwark  of 
Constantinople  in  the  shock  of  the  barbarians ;  and  it  held 
up  the  torch  of  truth  to  the  successive  tribes  who  over- 
spread the  country  between  the  Danube  and  the  ^gean — 
the  Goths  and  the  Sclaves,  and  the  Bulgarians  of  the  Greek 
Church,  and  the  Wallachians,  whose  language  still  seems  to 
connect  them  with  Philippi  and  the  Roman  colonies.  Thus 
in  the  mediaeval  chroniclers  it  has  received  the  name  of  '  the 
orthodox  city.'  "*  Let  us  learn  from  all  this  not  to  be  dis- 
couraged in  our  work  for  Christ  by  any  series  of  conflicts 
like  those  which  came  upon  Paul  in  his  first  visit  to  Europe. 
Let  us  go  on  sowing  the  seed,  if  it  should  be  on  a  battle- 
field. The  Lord  will  take  care  of  it,  and  make  it  spring  up, 
and  bring  forth  fruit  which  may  be  blessed  for  the  support 
of  those  who  shall  come  after  us. 

We  are  reminded,  in  the  second  place,  that  even  the  en- 
emies of  Christ's  cause  can  hardly  speak  of  it  without  sug- 
gesting valuable  truth.  When  those  who  wagged  their  heads 
at  the  dying  Redeemer  as  he  hung  upon  the  cross,  said,  "  He 
saved  others,  himself  he  cannot  save,"  they  thought  not  of 

*  Howson's  "Life  and  Epistles,"  etc.,  vol.  i.,  p. 347. 


Thessalonica  and  Berea. 


255 


the  blessed  love  which  their  words  immediately  bring  be- 
fore our  thoughts,  and  from  the  strength  of  which  within  him 
alone  it  was  true  that  he  could  not  save  himself.  Similarly, 
when  these  Thessalonian  Jews  affirmed  before  the  heathen 
magistrates  that  the  Christians  "had  turned  the  world  upside 
down,"  we  cannot  help  feeling  that,  though  there  was  exag- 
geration in  the  expression,  yet  it  did  bear  testimony  to  the 
reality  of  the  power  which  the  Gospel  had  even  then  begun 
to  exert,  and  to  the  nature  of  the  influence  which  it  was 
even  then  putting  forth.  They  recognized  that  it  was  rev- 
olutionary in  its  character,  and  though  they  were  wrong  in 
imputing  to  its  preachers  treason  against  the  government 
then  existing  in  the  empire,  they  were  right  in  regarding  it 
as  calculated  to  transform  human  society,  and  change  the 
character  of  the  world  as  a  whole.  So  far  as  selfishness,  and 
slavery,  and  cruelty,  and  dishonesty,  and  impurity,  and  every 
other  kind  of  iniquity  are  concerned,  the  Gospel  is  both  rad- 
ical and  revolutionary.  It  lays  the  axe  to  the  root  of  the 
tree  of  evil.  It  attacks  the  seat  of  the  malady  with  which 
the  race  is  afflicted.  Its  very  purpose  is  to  turn  the  world 
upside  down,  because  by  reason  of  human  depravity  the 
world  is  too  largely  wrong-side  up.  Hence,  if  we  would  re- 
form family  life,  or  regenerate  society,  or  purify  the  nation, 
the  great  instrument  for  the  accomplishment  of  these  ends 
is  the  Gospel  proclaimed  by  earnest,  courageous,  and  self- 
sacrificing  men. 

Again,  these  Jews  alleged  that  Paul  and  his  companions 
did  "  contrary  to  the  decrees  of  Caesar,  saying  that  there  is 
another  King,  one  Jesus  ;"  and  in  this  case  also,  while  false 
in  the  meaning  which  they  were  intended  to  convey,  their 
words  suggest  to  us  thoughts  of  which  they  did  not  dream. 
Paul,  as  indeed  we  may  gather  from  the  tenor  of  his  letters 
to  the  Thessalonians,  had  been  speaking,  doubtless,  of  Mes- 
siah as  king,  and  of  his  coming  again  in  his  glory  to  take 


256  Paul  the  Missionary. 

vengeance  on  them  who  know  not  God ;  but  with  that  liter- 
alism and  externalism  which  were  too  characteristic  of  the 
Jews,  they  inferred  that  he  was  describing  an  earthly  royal- 
ty, whereas  he  was  depicting  a  spiritual  sovereignty  over  the 
hearts  and  minds  and  consciences  of  men.  In  their  igno- 
rance or  malice  they  accused  him  of  disloyalty  to  the  em- 
peror; yet  one  may  adopt  their  words,  and  spread  over  them 
other  thoughts  than  they  had  in  their  minds.  "  There  2's 
another  king,  one  Jesus."  Monarchs  reign,  but  their  do- 
minion is  merely  external.  They  do  not  and  cannot  enter 
into  the  realm  of  the  soul ;  but  "  there  is  another  king,  one 
Jesus,"  whose  right  it  is  to  sit  enthroned  in  every  heart,  to 
direct  every  conscience,  and  to  have  dominion  over  every 
thought  and  action.  Have  you  given  him  the  sovereignty 
of  yourself  ? 

Sin  reigns,  and  that  king,  alas !  holds  sway  in  many — I 
ought  to  say,  in  the  vast  majority  of  human  souls.  But  he 
is  an  usurper;  for  "  there  is  another  king,  one  Jesus,"  who  is 
the  rightful  Lord  of  the  heart.  Under  which  king  are  you  ? 
He  who  repudiates  the  royalty  of  Jesus  over  him  is  guilty  of 
treason  against  the  majesty  of  Heaven,  and  is  but  courting 
his  destruction. 

Death  reigns,  and  day  by  day  he  is  sweeping  in  new  mul- 
titudes into  his  silent  realm.  The  mightiest  and  the  mean- 
est alike  must  yield  to  him  who  is  the  terror  of  kings,  no 
less  than  he  is  the  king  of  terrors.  At  one  time  he  rides 
on  the  hurricane,  and  dashes  the  laboring  vessel  and  the 
freighted  souls  within  her  on  the  roaring  reef ;  at  another, 
he  drives  through  the  city  streets  riding  on  his  pestilential 
car,  and  spreads  desolation  round  him.  Now  he  careers 
upon  the  boiling  flood,  and  sweeps  whole  villages  before  him 
into  swift  destruction ;  and  again  he  leaps  in  the  lightning 
flash  upon  some  devoted  building,  and  kindles  a  conflagra- 
tion that  burns  many  in  its  flames.     He  laughs  at  men's  ef- 


Thessalonica  and  Berea.  257 

forts  to  elude  his  grasp ;  and  as  we  look  upon  the  settled 
countenance  of  the  loved  one  whom  we  are  preparing  to  lay 
in  the  grave  we  are  almost  compelled  to  own  him  conqueror. 
But  no  !  "  there  is  another  king,  one  Jesus,"  who  is  "  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life,"  and  "who  hath  abolished  death, 
and  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  by  the  Gospel." 
Let  us,  then,  be  undismayed  by  this  last  enemy.  He  is  a 
vanquished  foe.  Our  Lord  Jesus  has  gone  into  his  do- 
main, and  having  conquered  him  there,  has  brought  him 
back  with  him  to  his  palace,  to  be  there  the  page  who  opens 
the  door  for  his  friends  into  the  chamber  of  his  presence. 
Yes!  as  we  stand  by  the  remains  of  our  Christian  dead, 
and  under  the  influence  of  sight  are  moved  to  speak  of 
Death  as  king,  we  recall  in  aiiother  sense  than  they  were 
meant,  but  in  a  sense  which  faith  recognizes  as  true,  the 
words,  "There  is  another  king,  one  Jesus." 

But  we  are  reminded,  finally,  that  the  success  of  the  Chris- 
tian minister  depends,  under  God,  upon  the  spirit  of  his 
hearers,  as  really  as  upon  the  manner  in  which  he  presents 
the  Gospel  to  them.  It  was  the  same  Paul  who  preached  in 
Thessalonica  and  Berea  ;  yet  only  a  few  Jews  were  convert- 
ed in  the  one  city,  and  many  were  converted  in  the  other. 
How  shall  we  account  for  this  difference  in  his  success  ? 
The  history  explains  it  by  the  difference  in  the  disposition 
of  his  hearers.  The  Thessalonians  were  prejudiced.  The 
Bereans  were  ready  to  listen,  and  were  willing  to  give  due 
weight  to  that  which  was  addressed  to  them.  Above  all,  the 
Thessalonians  were  wedded  to  their  old  traditional  interpre- 
tations of  the  Scriptures ;  but  the  Bereans  were  after  the 
truth,  and  they  searched  the  Old  Testament  daily  to  dis- 
cover whether  Paul's  statements  as  to  their  contents  were 
correct.  "Therefore,"  says  the  inspired  narrator,  "many 
of  them  believed."  Now,  let  us  be  instructed  by  the  great 
power  which  lies  in  that  "  therefore."     If  we  desire  conver- 


258  Paul  the  Missionary. 

sions  in  our  congregations,  we  must  not  only  have  ministers 
like  Paul,  but  also  hearers  like  the  Bereans.  The  preacher 
should  put  himself  behind  the  Bible,  seeking  simply  and  only 
to  make  its  meaning  plain.  He  should  unfold  its  signifi- 
cance, and  then  point  that  straight  at  the  consciences  of  his 
auditors,  making  them  feel  that  it  is  not  so  much  with  him 
as  with  God  who  gave  the  Bible  that  they  have  to  do  j  and 
the  hearers  should  be  stimulated  and  encouraged  to  test  his 
statements  by  the  Scriptures.  The  pulpit  differs  from  the 
platform  of  the  Lyceum  in  this,  that  it  has  the  open  Bible  ly- 
ing upon  it,  in  token  that  the  Scriptures  are  accepted  as  the 
ultimate  standard  of  appeal,  and  that  everything  said  is  to 
be  weighed  in  that  "balance  of  the  sanctuary."  The  preach- 
er comes  not  to  dilate  on  science,  or  to  discourse  on  litera- 
ture, or  to  declaim  on  politics,  or  to  discuss  the  latest  novel- 
ty in  philosophy.  His  work  in  the  pulpit  is  to  preach  Christ 
by  the  faithful  exposition  of  the  Word  of  God ;  and  not  un- 
til his  people  become  imbued  with  his  love  of  the  Bible, 
and  are  led  by  his  suggestive  utterances  to  examine  it  for 
themselves  and  test  his  sayings  by  its  standard,  can  he  hope 
for  results  that  shall  be  at  once  encouraging  and  permanent. 
This  is  what  I  live  for  among  you ;  and  if  I  shall  accom- 
plish nothing  else,  I  shall  be  thankful  to  have  it  said  truly 
concerning  me  at  last, "  He  gave  us  new  reverence  for  the 
Bible ;  he  taught  us  how  to  understand  its  meaning,  and  how 
to  apply  its  principles  to  our  common  lives ;  he  brought  it 
home  to  our  hearts,  and  gave  us  a  new  relish  for  its  study." 
The  man  of  one  book  is  always  formidable ;  but  when  that 
one  book  is  the  Bible,  he  is  irresistible. 


XIV. 

ATHENS. 

Acts  xvii.,  16-34. 

IN  consequence  of  the  appearance  of  the  Thessalonian 
Jews  at  Berea,  the  new  converts  there  persuaded  Paul 
to  go  to  the  shore,  and  take  ship  thence  to  Athens ;  so  that 
now  for  the  first  time  in  his  missionary  travels  he  was  with- 
out human  companionship.  Silas  remained  at  Berea,  but, 
from  a  statement  made  in  the  first  letter  to  the  Thessaloni- 
ans,*  we  gather  that  Timothy  had  been  sent  back  to  Thes- 
salonica  to  "  establish  the  brethren  there,  and  comfort  them 
concerning  their  faith."  For  the  time,  therefore,  the  evan- 
gelistic band  was  broken  up  into  units.  Luke  was  at  Phi- 
lippi,  Timothy  at  Thessalonica,  and  Silas  at  Berea,  while  Paul 
was  going  forward  alone  to  Athens,  to  come  there  into  direct 
and  immediate  conflict  with  human  philosophy,  even  in  its 
central  stronghold.  Perhaps  no  portion  of  apostolic  his- 
tory is  more  interesting  to  the  intelligent  reader  than  that 
which  lies  before  us  this  evening  for  exposition  j  and  wheth- 
er we  consider  the  place,  the  parties,  the  interview,  or  the 
results  which  followed  from  the  conference,  we  shall  find 
abundant  matter  for  profitable  reflection. 

The  place  was  Athens — the  intellectual  metropolis  of  the 
ancient  world — the  "mother  of  arts  and  eloquence."  Beau- 
tiful for  situation,  that  fair  city  stood  on  a  plain  hemmed  in 
behind  by  a  battlement  of  hills.    In  the  middle  of  the  plain, 

*  I  Thess.  iii,,  2. 


26o  Paul  the  Missionary. 

and  in  the  city  itself,  a  ragged  rock  rose  sheer  and  high. 
This  rock  was  the  Acropolis,  which  was  crowned  with  the 
famous  temples  of  the  Parthenon  and  Erechtheum,  and  had 
on  a  site  between  these  a  colossal  image  of  Minerva  in  full 
armor,  the  helmet  and  spear  of  which  were  ever  the  first  ob- 
jects visible  to  the  mariner  as  he  approached  on  the  ^gean. 
West  of  that  was  a  smaller  eminence,  on  the  top  of  which 
the  Council  met,  and  where  the  steps  by  which  its  members 
ascended,  and  the  benches,  hewn  out  of  the  virgin  rock,  on 
which  they  sat,  may  still  be  seen.  This  was  called  Areop- 
agus, or  Mar's  Hill,  from  a  temple  to  Mars  which  was  built 
upon  it.  To  the  south  of  the  Areopagus  was  the  hill  of 
the  Muses,  and  to  its  west  was  that  called  Pnyx,  on  which 
the  popular  assemblies,  in  the  great  days  of  the  republic, 
used  to  be  held,  and  where  Demosthenes  spoke  those  noble 

orations  which 

"  F'ulmia'd  over  Greece 
To  Macedon  and  Artaxerxes'  throne." 

In  the  space  between  these  hills  was  the  Agora,  or  market- 
place. ''  The  original  city  was  built,  for  security,  on  the 
Acropolis,  and  the  country  people  used  to  bring  their  prod- 
ucts for  sale  to  the  foot  of  the  rock  on  the  western  side, 
w^here  was  the  ascent.  This  undercliff,  accordingly,  became 
the  market.  But  in  course  of  time,  as  the  city  grew,  the 
population  flowed  over  from  the  heights  into  the  plain  be- 
low, and  streets  began  to  be  formed  there.  The  part  first 
occupied  was  called  the  market,  and  hence  the  new  town 
was  itself  called  the  Agora,  or  market.  Eventually  the  whole 
hollow  between  the  Acropolis  and  the  Areopagus  on  the 
north,  the  Pnyx  on  the  west,  and  the  hill  of  the  Muses  on 
the  south,  became  populous,  and  was  all  known  by  the 
name  of  Agora."* 

*  Lewin,  vol.  i.,  pp.  243,  244. 


Athens.  261 

Perhaps  on  no  other  area  of  similar  extent  on  the  surface 
of  the  world  have  so  many  objects  of  interest  ever  been  col- 
lected as  were  to  be  seen  of  old  on  that  Athenian  plain. 
Wherever  one  might  look,  the  finest  productions  of  the 
painter's  and  the  sculptor's  art  were  challenging  admiration 
and  awakening  delight;  and  not  unfrequently  some  stir- 
ring historical  association  added  its  own  peculiar  heart- 
thrill  to  the  pleasure  felt  by  the  spectator  in  the  contem- 
plation of  the  beautiful.  Statues  to  its  worthiest  sons  had 
been  erected  in  all  quarters  of  the  city ;  paintings  illustrat- 
ing the  most  memorable  victories  in  Athenian  history  were 
to  be  seen  in  many  of  the  public  porticoes ;  and  the  finest 
architectural  effects  were  produced  by  the  multitudinous 
temples  which  surrounded  the  beholder. 

Here,  too,  was  the  home  of  philosophy.  In  these  streets 
Socrates,  "whom, well-inspired, the  oracle  pronounced  wisest 
of  men,"  had  been  a  daily  teacher  throughout  his  life,  and 
on  yonder  Areopagus  he  was  condemned  to  die.  In  that 
olive  grove,  by  the  banks  of  the  Cephissus,  Plato  founded 
his  Academy;  while  in  the  Lyceum,  near  the  murmuring 
Ilissus,  the  immortal  Stagirite  inaugurated  his  Peripatetic 
School.  There  was  the  garden  in  which  Epicurus  met  his 
followers ;  and  there  the  painted  porch  where  Zeno  and  his 
disciples  used  to  carry  on  their  disputations.  Here  were 
the  very  highest  places  of  human  wisdom ;  the  very  perfec- 
tion of  human  art ;  the  very  centre  of  human  culture ;  and 
yet,  after  all,  how  little  those  material  splendors  and  that 
mental  training  seemed  to  affect  the  moral  and  spiritual 
condition  of  the  people !  for  they  were  sunk  in  superstition 
and  impurity.  "  It  must  be  acknowledged,"  says  one  who 
may  be  accepted  as  an  impartial  witness,  "  with  whatever  re- 
luctance, by  all  who  will  not  play  fast  and  loose  with  facts, 
that  a  baser  side  of  literature  and  of  life  has  often  been 
turned  toward  us  in  the  very  centres  of  ancient  and  modern 


262  Paul  the  Missionary. 

civilization.  In  the  most  brilliant  period  of  Athenian  great- 
ness, when  art  had  reached  its  acme  of  noble  simplicity, 
when  poetry  and  oratory  shed  over  the  public  life  a  glowing 
atmosphere  of  grace  and  beauty,  when  intellect,  unrivalled 
in  force  and  subtlety,  discussed  questions  which  men  are 
debating  still,  evils  v/hich  are  not  so  much  as  named  among 
ourselves  were  sapping  the  very  foundations  of  social  order, 
and  were  made  by  men  whose  own  personal  purity  is  above 
suspicion  the  subject  of  jest  and  witticism."*  Men  tell  us 
that  the  world  is  to  be  elevated  by  culture,  and  turn  away 
from  the  Gospel  as  a  vulgar  thing ;  but  let  them  look  below 
the  surface  of  the  Athens  which  Paul  visited,  or  the  Rome 
which  Nero  ruled  ;  let  them  study  the  Italy  of  Leo  X.  and 
the  France  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  they  will  find  that  art,  litera- 
ture, philosophy,  aesthetics,  may  all  be  cultivated  to  the  high- 
est extent,  while  morally  the  heart  is  a  cage  of  unclean 
beasts,  and  socially  the  community  is  reeking  with  rotten- 
ness. So  true  it  is  that  "  the  world  by  wisdom  knows  not 
God." 

It  was  a  bold  thing  for  Paul  to  go  into  such  a  place  as 
Athens;  but  he  was  there  in  God's  providence,  and  he 
could  depend  on  his  help.  It  almost  seems,  indeed,  as  if  it 
had  formed  no  part  of  his  original  plan  to  labor  there.  His 
eye  was  fixed  on  Corinth,  as  being,  by  its  central  position 
and  commercial  eminence,  a  more  available  place  for  his 
purpose  ;  and  perhaps,  also,  he  might  suppose  that  the  spirit 
of  the  Athenians  was  not  quite  so  favorable  for  the  recep- 
tion of  the  Gospel  as  was  that  of  those  who  made  fewer  pre- 
tensions to  intellectual  wisdom.  But  whatever  had  been  his 
intentions,  he  did  not  begin  his  work  immediately  on  his  ar- 
rival. Before  he  spoke  to  the  people  he  thought  it  wise 
to  study  them,  and,  if  possible,  to  understand  them.     As  he 

*  "  St.  Paul  at  Athens,"  by  Charles  Shakspeare,  B.  A.,  p.  38. 


Athens.  263 

passed  from  street  to  street,  the  one  thing  which  most  pro- 
foundly moved  him  was  the  evidence  of  the  prevalence  of 
idolatry  which  met  him  at  every  turning.  I  do  not  suppose, 
indeed,  that  the  apostle  was  destitute  of  the  sense  of  beau- 
ty, but  in  him  that  was  subordinated  both  to  the  good  and 
the  true ;  and  his  knowledge  of  the  evils  with  which  much 
of  the  sculpture  round  him  v/as  associated,  as  well  as  his 
loyalty  to  those  two  truths  which  Judaism  alone  had  con- 
served in  the  world — namely,  the  unity  and  spirituality  of 
God  —  kept  him  from  losing  sight  of  the  degradation  of 
which,  splendid  as  they  were,  these  works  of  art  were  but 
the  symptoms.  The  city  was  in  truth  "  full  of  idols."  This 
is  no  mere  rhetorical  exaggeration,  but  literal  fact.  One 
ancient  writer  has  said,  "  On  every  side  there  are  idols,  im- 
ages, and  temples;"  and  a  wit,  in  the  degenerate  days  of  the 
city,  somewhat  caustically  remarked,  that  "at  Athens  it  was 
easier  to  find  a  god  than  a  man."  We  need  not  wonder, 
therefore,  that  at  the  sight  of  all  this  Paul  was  unable  to 
keep  from  preaching  Christ,  though  at  first  he  appears  to 
have  resolved  to  remain  silent.  Depressed,  perhaps,  by  his 
solitude — for  he  was  keenly  alive  to  the  influence  of  com- 
panionship upon  him — or  possibly  a  little  discouraged  by 
the  persecutions  to  which  he  had  been  recently  exposed,  he 
might  be  saying  within  himself,  like  Jeremiah,  "  I  will  not 
make  mention  of  him,  nor  speak  any  more  in  his  name;" 
but  when  he  saw  the  condition  of  the  city,  he  felt  like  the 
same  prophet  when  he  declared,  "  His  word  was  in  mine 
heart  as  a  burning  fire  shut  up  in  my  bones,  and  I  was  weary 
with  forbearing,  and  I  could  not  stay."* 

Ah !  how  like  Athens  are  our  modern  cities  ;  and  yet  how 
quietly  we  take  it !  Multitudes  are  bowing  at  the  shrine 
of  the  golden  calf,  making  money  the  chief  end  they  seek. 

*  Jer.  XX.,  9. 

12 


264  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Many  are  doing  homage  in  the  temple  of  Fame,  accounting 
a  niche  in  that  the  highest  glory  of  existence  ;  thousands 
more  are  wallowing  in  the  mire  of  sensuality,  whose  worship 
to-day  is  as  degrading  as  was  that  of  the  ancient  Astarte ; 
while  at  every  street  corner  there  is  a  fane  erected  to  Bac- 
chus, whose  devotees  are  as  noisy  and  debased  as  those 
who  followed  the  mythic  Silenus  astride  upon  his  wine-skin. 
I  But  where  are  the  Pauls  ?  where  are  the  spirits  stirred  into 
activity  by  the  sight  of  the  wretchedness  that  reigns  around  ? 
Let  us  thank  God  there  are  some,  and,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
their  number  is  increasing ;  but  there  are  too  many  among 
us,  calling  themselves,  too,  by  the  name  of  Christ,  who  let 
the  black  tide  of  sin  and  misery  roll  past  them  without  one 
thought  of  rescuing  a  single  victim  from  the  waves,  or  doing 
anything  to  dry  up  the  waters. 

True  to  his  general  principle  of  action,  Paul  began  in 
Athens  with  his  Jewish  kinsmen.  He  made  his  way  to  the 
synagogue,  and  entered  into  earnest  argument  with  those 
who  worshipped  in  it;  but  as  nothing  is  said  of  results, 
the  probability  is  that  he  had  no  great  success.  So,  turn- 
ing from  his  countrymen,  he  went  into  the  Agora,  and  dis- 
puted with  those  whom  he  found  loitering  there.  For  such 
street  colloquies  the  Athenians,  as  a  people,  had  partic- 
ular liking.  It  was  through  such  public  discussions  that 
their  great  philosophers  had  come  into  prominence ;  and, 
having  abundant  leisure  on  their  hands,  the  citizens  gener- 
ally found  both  occupation  and  excitement  in  listening  to 
or  taking  part  in  the  debates  which  were  thus  carried  on. 
For  this  kind  of  thing,  too,  Paul  was  admirably  fitted.  In 
Tarsus,  as  the  seat  of  a  Greek  university,  he  must  have 
come  in  contact  with  many  inquirers  similar  to  those  whom 
he  now  encountered  at  Athens ;  and  we  may  see,  from  the 
ready  responses  to  objections,  the  rapid  transitions,  the 
quick  turns   of  thought,  the  argumentative  fire,  and  vivid 


Athens.  265 

flashes  of  eloquence  in  which  his  letters  abound,  how  thor- 
oughly furnished  he  was  for  this  Socratic  sort  of  discourse. 

Among  those  whom  he  thus  encountered  were  certain  of 
the  Epicureans  and  Stoics.  The  former  of  these  schools 
derived  their  name  from  Epicurus,  who  lived  and  taught  in 
Athens  for  thirty  years,  beginning  with  the  date  B.C.  306,* 
and  whose  philosophy  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  much 
that  is  taught  under  the  same  name  to-day.  He  held  that 
the  great  end  of  life  was  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  and  though 
in  his  own  i.dea  and  example  that  happiness  was  sought  for, 
not,  in  animal  indulgence,  but  in  the  practice  of  virtue  and 
the  possession  of  moral  excellence,  yet  he  made  the  man 
a  centre  to  himself,  and  turned  his  thoughts  upon  his  own 
enjoyment.  The  result  was  that,  in  the  vast  majority^  of 
instances,  this  doctrine  led  to  the  grossest  kind  of  sensual 
gratification.  Thus,  as  Mr.  Lecky  has  put  it,  "  It  is  impos- 
sible to  doubt  that  Epicureanism  was  logically  compatible 
with  a  very  high  degree  of  virtue.  It  is  equally  impossible 
to  doubt  that  its  practical  tendency  is  to  vice."  Commonly, 
the  ultimate  significance  that  comes  to  be  associated  with 
a  word  is  a  clear  indication  of  the  character  and  tendency 
of  the  thing  which  it  denotes  ;  and  therefore  the  ideas  which 
the  term  Epicurean  now  suggests  are  the  very  strongest 
condemnation  of  the  system  which  it  designates. 

This  selfishness  in  morals  was  connected  with  a  theory 
of  the  universe  which  was  virtually  materialistic.  Borrow- 
ing from  earlier  teachers,  Epicurus  held  that  the  universe  is 
the  result  of  "a  fortuitous  combination  of  atoms."  He  knew 
nothing  of  creation  or  a  Creator;  and  though  he  did  not  deny 
the  national  gods,  he  virtually  ignored  them.  There  was  no 
place  in  his  system  for  the  causation  and  superintendence 

*  Mr.  Shakspeare,  in  his  work  already  quoted,  dates  the  coming  of 
Epicurus  to  Athens  at  B.C.  323. 


266  Paul  the  Missionary. 

of  spirit ;  and  so,  while  not  caring  to  defy  public  sentiment 
so  far  as  to  declare  himself  an  atheist,  he  yet  took  back  with 
one  hand  what  he  gave  with  the  other;  for  he  represent- 
ed these  -deities  as  dwelling  apart  in  serene  indifference, 
having  no  influence  on  the  guidance  of  the  universe,  even  as 
they  had  no  hand  in  its  origin.  As  in  his  system  there  was 
no  Creator,  so  there  was  no  moral  governor ;  and  all  ideas 
of  retribution  or  judgment  to  come  were  inconsistent  with 
his  creed.  Denying  all  immortality,  his  followers  said,  "  Let 
us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die."  How  closely  al- 
lied these  opinions  are  to  some  modern  speculations  iijust 
be  patent  to  every  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  currents 
of  modern  thought.  The  perception  of  this  resemblance  is 
fitted  to  humble  human  pride,  inasmuch  as  it  shows  that,  in 
spite  of  the  boasted  scientific  progress  of  these  days,  they 
who  reject  the  Scriptures  among  us  are,  in  so  far  as  the 
great  central  problems  are  concerned,  no  farther  advanced 
than  men  were  in  Athens  twenty-one  hundred  years  ago  ; 
but  it  is  calculated  also  to  encourage  Christian  hearts ;  for 
the  Gospel,  which  so  long  ago  met  and  overturned  these 
systems,  is  as  mighty  still,  and  will  surely  overcome  at  the 
last. 

The  Stoics  were  the  followers  of  Zeno,  who  lived  about 
the  same  date  as  Epicurus,  and  who  taught  his  followers  in 
a  painted  porch  (whence  the  name  Stoics)  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  Agora.  The  moral  system  of  Zeno  was  the 
very  opposite  of  that  of  Epicurus.  The  latter  centred  the 
man  in  himself ;  but  the  former  bade  the  man  look  out  to 
the  order  of  which  he  w^as  a  part,  and  seek  his  happiness 
in  conforming  to  that.  The  watchword  of  Zeno  was  that 
we  should  "live  agreeably  to  nature."  He  taught,  to  bor- 
row again  from  Mr.  Lecky,  "  that  our  reason  reveals  to  us  a 
certain  law  of  nature,  and  that  a  desire  to  conform  to  this 
law,  irrespectively  of  all  considerations  of  reward  or  pun- 


Athens.  267 

ishment,  of  happiness  or  the  reverse,  is  a  possible  and  suffi- 
cient motive  of  virtue."  The  Epicureans  sought  to  avoid 
all  pain ;  the  Stoics  sought  to  live  in  an  atmosphere  which 
despised  it ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  withhold  our  admiration 
from  many  of  the  unbending  and  heroic  men  connected  with 
this  school,  who,  simply  for  the  sake  of  the  right  and  the 
true,  braved  the  fiercest  persecution  without  a  quiver. 

But  though  their  system  of  morals  was  thus  superior  to 
that  of  the  Epicureans,  their  theory  of  the  universe  v/as 
not  much  nobler.  They  v»^ere  substantially  pantheistic,  and 
spoke  of  God  as  the  Spirit  or  Reason  of  the  universe.  The 
universe  was  itself  a  rational  soul,  producing  all  things  out 
of  itself,  and  resuming  them  all  to  itself  again.  Matter  was 
inseparable  from  deity.  The  human  soul  was  corporeal,  and 
at  death  it  would  be  absorbed  in  God.  Their  system  thus 
culminated  morally  in  that  unnatural  sternness  vdiich  is  now 
everywhere  associated  with  their  very  name,  and  theological- 
ly in  a  pantheism  which  was  not  easily  distinguishable  from 
materialism. 

Besides  these  philosophical  sects,  Paul  met  with  others 
not  connected  with  any  school,  but  moved  only  by  the  spirit 
of  curiosity,  which  was  so  characteristic  of  the  Athenians 
that  their  greatest  orator  reproved  his  hearers  sharply  for 
indulging  in  it,  even  when  the  darkest  danger  was  menacing 
the  State.  Seeking  for  news,  they  lounged  about  the  Agora, 
and  very  naturally  joined  themselves  to  the  throng  of  dis- 
putants that  gathered  round  the  apostle. 

These  three  parties  then — the  Epicureans,  the  Stoics,  and 
the  curious — brought  Paul  to  the  Areopagus,  saying,  ''  May 
we  know  what  this  new  doctrine,  whereof  thou  speakest,  is  ? 
For  thou  bringest  certain  strange  things  to  our  ears  :  we 
would  know,  therefore,  what  these  things  mean."  He  had 
been  proclaiming  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  in  special  con- 
nection with  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  ;  and  though  it 


268  Paul  the  Missionary. 

seemed  to  some  that  he  was  but  a  babbler,  they  wished  to 
learn  all  he  had  to  teach.  The  Council  of  Areopagus  was 
accounted  the  most  august  tribunal  in  the  city.  Here  Soc- 
rates had  been  condemned  to  death ;  and  it  has  been  sup- 
posed that  Paul  was  brought  to  it  to  be  put  upon  his  de- 
fence for  a  like  accusation  to  that  which  was  made  against 
the  great  philosopher;  but  I  cannot  gather  from  the  narra- 
tive that  there  was  any  purpose  of  putting  Paul  upon  his 
trial.  He  was  asked  only  to  expound  more  fully  and  for- 
mally the  doctrines  which  he  had  broached  in  fragmentary 
conversations  on  the  streets ;  and  as  he  stood  forth  to  com- 
ply with  the  request,  we  marvel  anew  at  the  calm  confidence 
of  the  man  of  God.  "  Never,"  says  an  eloquent  writer, 
"  did  orator  stand  up  to  address  an  audience  under  greater 
disadvantages.  Everything  almost  of  an  outward  kind  was 
against  him.  His  being  a  foreigner  was  against  him ;  for 
the  Athenians,  who  boasted  that  they  had  sprung  from  the 
soil  of  Attica,  looked  upon  all  other  nations  with  contempt, 
and  spoke  of  them  as  barbarians.  His  speech  was  against 
him ;  for  to  the  fine  ears  of  the  Athenians,  accustomed  to 
hear  their  exquisite  language  uttered  with  the  nicest  atten- 
tion to  pronunciation  and  accent,  it  must  have  been  well- 
nigh  intolerable  to  hear  it  spoken  by  one  whose  speech  was, 
by  his  own  confession,  contemptible,  even  in  the  esteem  of 
the  less  fastidious  Corinthians.  His  personal  appearance 
was  against  him ;  for  he  v»^as  of  diminutive  stature,  and  his 
bodily  presence  was  feeble ;  while  around  him  were  the 
graceful  forms  and  noble  countenances  of  the  most  perfect- 
ly developed  race  the  world  has  ever  seen.  His  subject  was 
against  him ;  for  he  stood  there  to  denounce  the  religious 
beliefs  and  usages  of  the  Hellenic  nations  in  the  very  cen- 
tre of  the  Hellenic  worship,  in  the  midst  of  a  people  enthu- 
siastically devoted  to  their  national  superstitions  to  assail 
the  time-honored  prejudices  of  the  haughtiest  and  most  self- 


Athens.  269 

confident  of  peoples,  and  in  a  city  full  of  idols,  and  swarm- 
ing with  philosophers,  to  prove  idolatry  a  wicked  absurdity, 
and  philosophy  such  as  they  had  it  a  delusion  and  a  snare."* 
But,  trusting  in  the  help  which  his  Master  had  promised  for 
just  such  occasions,  the  apostle  was  equal  to  the  hour  ;  and 
his  address  is  one  of  the  masterpieces  of  eloquence,  whose 
excellence  is  acknowledged  even  by  those  who  are  not  in 
sympathy  with  the  thoughts  which  it  expresses. 

Listen  to  the  courtesy  with  which  he  commences  :  "  Men 
of  Athens  "  (so  all  their  orators  began  their  speeches),  "  I 
perceive  that  in  all  things  you  pay  more  than  usual  atten- 
tion to  religion."  Such  is  the  true  force  of  the  words  he 
uses.  He  does  not  begin  with  a  broad  condemnation,  but 
rather  with  a  delicately  conciliatory  mode  of  address ;  yet 
he  says  no  more  than  the  truth,  for  a  poet  of  their  own  has 
remarked,  "  If  there  be  any  land  which  knows  how  to  rev- 
erence and  honor  the  gods,  this  surpasses  in  that."  But, 
while  admitting  the  justness  of  the  claim  thus  made  on  their 
behalf,  the  apostle  proceeds  to  show  that  where  they  thought 
themselves  strongest  they  were  in  reality  weak.  Mark  with 
what  wisdom  he  turns  his  observation  of  their  city  to  ac- 
count as  he  continues,  with  a  clear  reference  to  the  asser- 
tion, he  seemeth  to  be  a  setter  forth  of  strange  gods;  "for, 
as  I  passed  by  and  beheld  the  objects  which  you  worship,  I 
found  also  an  altar  on  which  had  been  inscribed,  To  an  un- 
known God  ;  whom  therefore  ye  ignorantly  worship,  him  de- 
clare I  unto  you."  A  less  skilful  man  would  have  denounced 
their  idolatry  at  once ;  but  Paul  had  learned  to  look  at  the 
various  forms  of  heathenism  as  but  the  gropings  of  men  in 
the  dark  after  truth.  Therefore,  instead  of  crying  down  the 
error  which  he  saw,  he  went  first  beneath  it,  to  that  spirit- 


*  "  St.  Paul  at  Athens,"  by  William  Lindsay  Alexander,  D.D.,  pp. 
38-40. 


270  Paul  the  Missionary. 

ual  craving  from  which  it  all  sprung,  and  the  existence  of 
which,  as  strong  as  ever,  in  spite  of  all  that  had  been  done 
to  satisfy  it,  was  indicated  by  the  inscription  to  which  he 
called  their  attention.  "You  still  want  God,"  as  if  he  had 
said,  "  notwithstanding  your  idols,  and  that  God  I  am  come 
to  make  known  to  you." 

Observe  now,  their  attention  having  been  secured,  how 
he  declares  to  his  hearers  the  truth  of  theism,  as  opposed 
to  the  materialism  of  the  philosophers  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  polytheism  of  the  multitude  on  the  other.  "  God  that 
made  the  cosmos,  and  all  things  therein."  There  are  cre- 
ation and  a  Creator,  in  direct  contradiction  to  Stoics  and 
Epicureans  alike.  But  more  marvellous  things  are  to  come. 
"  Seeing  that  he  is  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  dwelleth  not 
in  temples  made  with  hands,  neither  is  worshipped  with 
men's  hands,  as  though  he  needed  anything;"  there  are  the 
spirituality  and  the  immensity  of  God.  "  Seeing  he  giveth 
to  all  life,  and  breath,  and  all  things;"  there  is  providence,  as 
opposed  alike  to  the  indifference  with  which  the  Epicureans 
clothed  their  deities,  and  to  the  blind  fate  which,  according 
to  the  Stoics,  held  everything  in  the  inexorable  chain  of  an 
iron  necessity.  "  And  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations 
of  men  for  to  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  earth ;"  there  are 
the  common  origin  and  brotherhood  of  men;  and  by  speak- 
ing thus,  Paul,  by  implication,  condemned  the  foolish  pride 
of  the  Athenians  for  believing  that  they  were  nobler  than 
all  others  because  they  sprung  from  the  soil  of  their  own 
land.  "  And  hath  determined  the  times  before  appointed, 
and  the  bounds  of  their  habitation ;"  there,  again,  is  provi- 
dence. God  gave  to  Greece  her  place  among  the  nations, 
and  gave  each  tribe  its  place  in  Greece.  As  really  as  he 
gave  Palestine  under  Joshua  by  lot  to  the  tribes  of  Israel, 
so  he  has  placed  each  people  on  its  own  heritage  the  world 
over.    We  may  talk  as  we  please  of  diplomacy,  and  say,  "  The 


Athens. 


271 


treaty  of  Vienna  settled  this ;"  "the  treaty  of  Paris  approved 
that;"  and  "the  Congress  of  Berlin  appointed  something 
else;"  but  there  is  one  higher  than  all  human  autocrats, 
and  he  has  given  to  each  nation  its  own  position  and  mis- 
sion. "That  they  should  seek  the  Lord,  if  haply  they 
might  feel  after  him,  and  find  him."  The  design  of  Provi- 
dence is  thus  subordinated  to  the  purpose  of  grace  :  and  all 
settlements  of  boundaries  or  fixing  of  habitations,  whatever 
men  may  think  of  them  at  the  time,  are,  in  God's  own  way, 
made  to  advance  the  accomplishment  of  that  "  one  increas- 
ing purpose,"  which  is  running  through  the  ages,  to  wit,  that 
men  may  seek  and  find  the  Lord.  And  yet  men  are  not 
blameless  for  not  having  found  him,  for  "  he  is  not  far  from 
every  one  of  us ;  for  in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our 
being ;  as  certain  also  of  your  own  poets  have  said,  For  we 
are  also  his  offspring."  God  had  not  left  himself  without  a 
witness  among  men.  They  might  and  ought  to  have  discov- 
ered him ;  for,  in  the  ordering  of  the  universe,  and  in  the  su- 
pervision of  his  providence,  he  is  not  far  from  each  of  us ; 
and  though  perhaps  the  poets  Aratus  and  Cleanthes  had 
written  in  a  pantheistic  sense,  the  Christian  apostle  does  not 
scruple  to  quote  their  words,  and  make  them  point  to  the 
true  God.  But  let  us  proceed.  "  Forasmuch  then  as  we  are 
the  offspring  of  God,  we  ought  not  to  think  that  the  God- 
head is  like  unto  gold,  or  silver,  or  stone,  graven  by  art  and 
man's  device."  Here,  again,  is  God's  spirituality;  and  we 
cannot  but  admire  the  cogency  of  the  argument  by  which  it 
is  enforced,  as  well  as  the  tenderness  of  the  words  in  which 
it  is  expressed.  We,  being  God's  offspring,  must  be  in  God's 
likeness.  But  what  are  we  ?  Not  bodies  merely.  These  are 
ours,  not  we.  That  "  I  myself,  I,"  which  exists  in  each  of 
us,  is  something  different  from  the  body,  something  which 
no  sculptured  image  of  the  body  can  adequately  represent ; 
something  spiritual  and  intangible.     But  if  the  oft'spring  be 


272  Paul  the  Missionary. 

such,  such  also  must  be  the  Father ;  and  therefore  the  very 
thought  of  likening  God  to  a  gold,  or  silver,  or  marble  im- 
age is  absurd. 

The  apostle  adds,  "And  the  times  of  this  ignorance  God 
overlooked."  The  rendering,  "winked  at,"  is  objectionable 
as  liable  to  be  misunderstood ;  because  among  us  now  the 
expression  is  equivalent  to  "  connived  at."  Strictly  speak- 
ing, God  overlooks  nothing.  Everything  comes  under  his 
eye,  and  he  never  can  approve  of  or  be  indifferent  to  any- 
thing that  dishonors  his  name.  But  Paul  does  not  allege 
that  he  either  approved  or  was  indifferent  to  the  conduct 
of  men  during  those  times  of  culpable  ignorance  when  they 
\vere  guilty  of  idolatry.  What  he  means  is,  that  throughout 
those  ages  he  used  no  direct  and  immediate  means  to  rem- 
edy the  evil.  He  simply  let  it  alone,  and  left  it  to  develop 
itself  to  the  utmost.  Thus  Paul  is  only  repeating  here  in 
another  form  what  he  said  to  the  men  of  Lystra,  that  God, 
"in  times  past,  suffered  all  nations  to  walk  in  their  own 
ways ;"  and  though  we  may  not  dogmatize  concerning  the 
Divine  motive,  we  may  perhaps  discover  it  in  the  suggestive 
words  of  our  apostle  in  another  place,  "after  that,  in  the  wis- 
dom of  God,  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God."  He  let 
men  alone,  that  it  might  be  clearly  demonstrated  that  when 
left  to  themselves  they  are  helpless  to  find  their  way  to  Him. 

But  now,  that  having  been  fully  proved,  he  has  come  with 
a  direct  and  immediate  interference  in  the  person  of  Jesus 
Christ.  He  has  ushered  in  a  new  era.  He  calls  now  on 
all  men  everywhere  to  repent :  and  he  does  so  "  because  he 
hath  appointed  a  day  in  the  which  he  will  judge  the  world 
by  that  man  whom  he  hath  ordained ;  whereof  he  hath  given 
assurance  unto  all  men  in  that  he  hath  raised  him  from  the 
dead."  Here  is  the  doctrine  of  retribution  confirmed  by 
a  reference  to  the  miracle  of  the  Redeemer's  resurrection, 
and  both  are  employed  as  motives  to  repentance. 


Athens.  273 

Thus  every  clause  of  this  address  has  in  it  something 
that  met  the  state  of  his  hearers  at  the  time,  and  its  full 
and  elaborate  exposition  would  lead  one  to-day  into  the  deep 
things  of  Christian  doctrine,  while  at  the  same  time  it  would 
bring  him  into  immediate  conflict  with  many  of  the  most 
popular  forms  of  philosophic  speculation.  Into  neither  of 
these,  however,  do  I  choose  to  enter  now,  not  because  I  have 
any  fear  for  the  truth,  or  any  indisposition  on  a  fitting  oc- 
casion to  stand  forth  in  its  defence,  but  because  my  purpose 
this  evening  has  been  to  give  you  a  comprehensive  summa- 
ry of  the  oration  as  a  whole,  and  to  show  you  at  what  points 
it  assailed  the  opinions  of  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed. 
Those  who  wish  to  look  at  the  topics  in  detail  may  consult 
with  profit  "  St.  Paul  at  Athens,"  by  Dr.  W.  Lindsay  Alex- 
ander, of  Edinburgh,  and  a  little  work  under  the  same  title 
by  an  English  clergyman  named  Charles  Shakspeare,  which 
has  lately  issued  from  the  press.  But,  though  I  do  not  now 
enter  the  lists  with  modern  antagonists,  I  cannot  forbear 
saying  that,  when  I  think  of  what  the  Gospel  preached  by 
Paul  accomplished  in  the  face  of  a  philosophy  which  was 
at  the  very  least  as  subtle  and  as  acute  as  that  of  to-day,  I 
lose  all  fear  for  its  future  progress.  Let  us  only  be  as  wise 
as  Paul  was,  and  take  the  very  admissions  of  philosophy  as 
finger-posts  that  point  to  something  higher  than  itself,  and  in 
the  end,  like  him,  too,  we  shall  succeed.  There  was  indeed 
very  little  that  was  like  success  at  first ;  for  when  he  spoke 
of  the  resurrection  of  Christ  from  the  dead,  he  was  greeted 
with  such  an  outburst  of  derisive  laughter  that  it  was  in 
vain  to  think  of  going  farther.  Some  mocked,  and  some, 
more  polite,  but  not  less  opposed  to  his  doctrines,  said,  "  We 
will  hear  thee  again."  Yet  not  altogether  in  vain  had  he 
sown  his  handful  of  seed,  for  "  certain  men  clave  unto  him, 
and  believed,  among  whom  were  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,'' 
a  member  of  the  court  in  whose  precincts  the  apostle  spake, 


2  74  Paul  the  Missionary. 

"and  a  woman  named  Damaris,  and  others  with  them." 
Mockers  !  procrastinators  !  converts  !  So  it  was  then.  So 
it  is  still  every  time  the  Gospel  is  faithfully  proclaimed. 
The  nature  of  the  result  in  each  case  was  closely  connected 
with  the  spirit  in  which  they  came  at  first.  The  philoso- 
phers, we  may  suppose,  were  the  mockers,  for  the  notion  of 
a  resurrection  of  the  dead  was  utterly  at  variance  with  all 
their  theories,  and  neither  the  Epicureans  nor  Stoics  had 
any  faith  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  rising  of  the  body  from  the  grave.  The  curious  ones 
may  have  furnished  the  procrastinators,  for  they  might  not 
yet  have  exhausted  the  newsiness  of  the  doctrines  to  the 
exposition  of  which  they  had  just  listened.  And  perhaps 
from  each  of  the  two  classes  some  of  the  converts  may  have 
come  to  prove  that  the  Gospel  is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation  to  any. one  that  believeth. 

So  in  almost  every  audience  to-day  we  have  the  same  ele- 
ments and  the  same  results.  There  may  be  lovers  of  pleas- 
ure here  to-night  who  have  their  prototypes  in  these  old  Ep- 
icureans. There  may  be  self-righteous  ones,  characterized 
by  intellectual  pride,  and  a  stern,  cold,  defiant  morality, 
skilled  withal,  perhaps,  in  the  speculations  which  men  have 
based  on  the  discoveries  of  modern  science,  talking  oracu- 
larly about  development,  and  natural  selection,  and  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest,  and  bovv^ing  Moses  and  his  Lord  alike  out 
of  court.  These  will  both  be  sure  to  mock,  unmindful  of  the 
fact  that  while  physical  theories  of  the  universe  have  made 
no  progress  since  the  days  of  Lucretius,  the  Gospel  which 
Paul  preached  has  elevated  everything  it  has  touched,  and 
purified  and  ennobled  every  community  which  has  received 
it  into  its  bosom.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  there  may  be 
here,  too,  the  sensation  -  loving  hearer,  who  wants  to  know 
"what  the  babbler  will  say,"  or  who,  perhaps,  having  come 
to  the  city  on  a  tour  of  pleasure,  wishes  to  pander  to  the 


Athens.  275 

curiosity  of  others,  and  at  the  same  time  help  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  his  journey,  by  writing  sketches  of  some  of  its 
preachers  for  the  newspaper  of  his  provincial  town.  To  this 
class  also  belong  the  floating  drift-wood  of  all  religious  audi- 
ences, who  go  where  the  current  carries  them,  leaving  noth- 
ing behind  them,  and  alas  !  taking  no  real  benefit  with  them; 
but  saying,  as  they  go,  "  Rather  interesting  preacher  that ! 
I  must  hear  him  again ;"  just  as  if  the  minister  had  been 
seeking  only  to  display  his  own  attractions,  and  not  labor- 
ing for  their  instruction  and  salvation  !  How  like,  after  all, 
the  human  nature  of  New  York  to-day  is  to  that  of  Athens 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago  ! 

Such,  then,  was  the  first  conflict  between  human  philoso- 
phy and  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  It  looks  almost,  on  the  first 
blush  of  the  matter,  as  if  it  had  been  a  defeat  for  Christian- 
ity. But  no ;  in  these  converts,  few  though  they  were,  its 
power  was  made  manifest ;  and  before  three  centuries  had 
passed  away,  it  was  discovered  that  the  only  way  in  which 
philosophy  could  flourish  was  by  grafting  itself  in  some  form 
or  other  on  the  Gospel.  It  was  defeated  in  its  own  high 
places.  Then  it  sought  to  enter  the  Church,  and  there  it 
did  more  damage  by  its  alliance  than  it  had  done  before  by 
its  enmity.  In  the  recurring  cycle  of  things,  however,  it  has 
passed  once  more  into  open  conflict ;  and  our  wisdom  will 
be  to  go  below  the  intellectual  to  the  spiritual,  and  show 
that  all  that  philosophy  aims  after  is  given  by  Christianity 
in  a  more  perfect  form.  That  is  the  great  lesson  for  us, 
from  this  address  of  Paul  to  the  Athenians  ;  and  if  we  choose 
to  seek  for  them,  we  shall  find  inscriptions  on  the  altars  of 
philosophy  in  abundance,  which,  fairly  interpreted,  do  imply, 
and  honestly  followed  would  lead  up  to,  the  fundamental 
principles  of  Christianity. 

And  now,  as  I  conclude,  let  me  ask  what  you  have  to  say 
to  the  things  set  forth  here  by  the  apostle.     Observe,  every 


276  Paul  the  Missionary. 

position  is  made  by  him  to  lead  up  to  and  depend  on  the 
fact  that  Jesus  is  risen  from  the  dead.  Has  Christ  risen  ? 
Yea  or  nay?  That  settles  the  whole  matter.  If  he  has  not 
risen,  then  it  makes  little  difference  whether  we  be  Stoic, 
Epicurean,  Peripatetic,  or  Academic  in  our  views  ;  for  when 
death  comes  there  is  an  end  of  us.  But  if  he  has  risen,  then 
there  is  a  judgment-day,  and  an  eternity  of  happiness  or  mis- 
ery before  every  one  of  us.  ^he  has  risen?  I  challenge  in- 
fidelity to  do  its  utmost  to  prove  that  he  has  not.  Nay,  I  go 
farther,  and  affirm,  with  Thomas  Arnold,*  that  no  one  fact 
in  the"  history  of  our  race  is  proved  by  fuller  and  more  con- 
vincing evidence  of  every  sort  than  this,  that  Jesus  died  and 
rose  again  from  the  dead ;  and  I  fearlessly  stake  the  truth 
of  the  whole  Gospel  on  that  one  fact.  If,  then,  he  has  risen, 
there  is  a  judgment-day,  and  you  and  I  will  be  there  to  give 
account  of  the  deeds  done  in  the  body;  to  be  judged  in 
righteousness,  and  to  receive  the  award  of  eternal  life  or 
everlasting  punishment.  Can  any  questions,  therefore,  be 
more  important  than  these :  How  shall  I  stand  in  that  great 
day  ?  and  how  now  shall  I  prepare  for  its  dreadful  ordeal  ? 
Here  is  the  answer :  Repent ;  return  unto  God ;  receive 
Christ  by  faith  into  your  heart ;  and  on  the  ground  of  his 
atonement,  your  sins  will  be  forgiven,  your  soul  will  be  re- 
newed, and  you  will  be  openly  acknowledged  and  acquitted 
by  him  who  sits  upon  the  great  white  throne. 

"  Great  God  !  what  do  I  see  and  hear  ? 
The  end  of  things  created  ; 
The  Judge  of  mankind  doth  appear 

^On  clouds  of  glory  seated. 
Low  at  his  cross,  I  view  the  day 

When  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away, 
And  thus  prepare  to  meet  him." 

*  *'  Sermons  on  Christian  Life,"  pp.  15, 16. 


XV. 

THE  FIRST-FRUITS   OF  ACHAIA. 

Acts  xviii.,  1-17. 

TO  the  south  of  Macedonia,  and  forming  part  of  the 
province  of  Achaia,  was  the  famous  peninsula  called, 
from  its  fancied  resemblance  to  a  mulberry  leaf,  the  Morea, 
and  known  also  in  classic  history  as  the  Peloponnesus.     It 
was  connected  with  the  continent  by  a  rocky  neck  of  land, 
known  as  the  Isthmus,  which  was  from  three  to  seven  miles 
wide,  and  about  eight  miles  long.     Near  the  southern  ex- 
tremity of  this  narrow  strip,  and  having  a  harbor  in  each 
of  the  seas  between  which  it  stood,  was  the  ancient  city  of 
Corinth.     Immediately  behind  the  town  rose  a  perpendic- 
ular rock  to  a  height  of  two  thousand  feet.     This  was  the 
Acrocorinthus,  from  the  summit  of  which,  crowned  as  it  was 
by  the  famous  temple  of  Venus,  one  might  see  the  Acropo- 
lis of  Athens,  which  was  forty-five  miles  away.     From  its 
geographical  position  as  the  key  to  the  peninsula,  its  natu- 
ral strength  as  an  almost  impregnable  fortress,  and  its  com- 
mercial eminence,  Corinth  was  a  place  of  great  importance 
throughout  the  history  of  Greece;  and   in  its   immediate 
neighborhood,  on  a  lofty  table -land,  having  an   enclosure 
sacred  to  Poseidon,  those  games  were  held  which  took  their 
name  from  the  Isthmus,  and  vied  in  grandeur  with  the  con- 
tests of  Olympus. 

When,  however,  Greece  fell  under  the  Roman  yoke,  Cor- 
inth was  attached  to  the  Achaean  league,  and,  having  joined 
in  the  Achsan  revolt,  it  was  taken  by  the  Consul  Mummius 


278  Paul  the  Missionary. 

and  utterly  destroyed.  That  was  in  the  year  B.C.  146,  and 
for  a  whole  century  it  lay  in  ruins.  But  with  that  skill  in 
the  perception  of  the  possibilities  of  a  place  alike  for  mili- 
tary and  commercial  purposes  which  seems  to  have  been  a 
part  of  his  genius,  Julius  Caesar  chose  to  plant  a  young  Ro- 
man colony  on  the  ancient  site ;  and  such  was  the  rapidity 
with  which  it  grew,  that  in  the  time  of  our  apostle  the  city 
had  risen  to  its  former  eminence.  It  commanded  all  the 
traffic  between  the  main-land  and  the  Morea,  and  the  larger 
portion  of  the  trade  between  the  eastern  and  western  parts 
of  the  Roman  empire  passed  across  the  isthmus  on  which  it 
stood.  In  those  days  of  primitive  navigation  the  rounding 
of  the  Malea — the  most  southerly  promontory  of  the  Grecian 
peninsula — was  attended  with  as  much  of  danger  and  delay 
as  the  doubling  of  Cape  Horn  is  in  modern  times ;  and 
therefore  ship-owners  preferred  that  their  vessels  should  go 
to  Lecheum  on  the  west,  or  to  Cenchrea  on  the  east,  and 
have  their  cargoes  carried  across  the  isthmus,  and  reship- 
ped  in  other  crafts.  Repeated  attempts  were  made  to  form 
a  canal  which  should  unite  both  seas,  but  these  had  always 
failed ;  and  the  most  that  was  accomplished  was  the  con- 
struction of  a  road — named  Diolkos — to  a  cradle  on  which 
ships  of  moderate  tonnage  might  be  lifted  without  disturb- 
ing their  cargoes,  and  so  transferred  to  the  opposite  port 
and  relaunched  within  a  day.  The  position  of  Corinth  rela- 
tive to  the  ancient  world  was  thus  not  unlike  that  occupied 
now  by  Alexandria,  as  between  England  and  India,  or  by 
Panama,  as  between  the  trade  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
oceans.  Naturall}^,  therefore,  it  drew  to  itself  men  from  all 
quarters  of  the  empire,  and  came  to  be  one  of  the  wealthiest 
cities  of  antiquity. 

But  riches  drew  in  their  train  their  too  frequent  attendants 
— luxury  and  vice.  The  worship  of  the  city  was  that  of  Venus 
in  its  grossest  form,  and  its  wickedness  had  passed  into 


The  First-Fruits  of  Achaia.  279 

a  proverb;  so  that, when  a  man  was  said  to  "Corinthian- 
ize,"  the  nnplication  was  that  he  had  entered  upon  a  career 
of  uttermost  debauchery.  But  the  same  reasons  which  had 
led  the  apostle  to  give  so  much  time  to  Antioch  and  Thes- 
salonica  determined  him  to  put  forth  every  effort  for  the 
planting  of  the  Gospel  in  Corinth ;  and  it  is  to-day  a  signifi- 
cant fact  that,  while  almost  every  vestige  of  the  ancient  city 
has  disappeared,  the  doctrine  of  "Jesus  Christ  and  him  cru- 
cified" which  Paul  there  proclaimed  is  as  mighty  as  ever  in 
the  salvation  of  every  one  that  believeth.  "  Except  seven 
Doric  columns,  which  mark  the  site  of  an  ancient  temple, 
and  a  few  masses  of  Roman  masonry,  there  is  nothing  left 
of  the  great  city  in  which  Paul  preached.  The  great  rock 
flings  its  mighty  shadow  in  the  morning  over  the  bare  site 
of  the  departed  town,  and  in  the  evening  backward  across 
the  isthmus ;  but  there  are  none  now  to  rejoice  in  its  shel- 
ter. Its  fortress  is  abandoned  and  tenantless  ;  the  platform 
at  its  foot,  which  has  twice  been  the  site  of  a  noble  city,  has 
now  but  a  few  scattered  houses  upon  it,  and  itself  remains 
in  its  loneliness,  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary 
land."*  But  he  who  when  he  entered  it  was  little  regarded, 
and  whose  labors  in  it  brought  upon  him  the  bitter  enmity 
of  some  and  the  cynical  contempt  of  others,  has  given  it  un- 
dying interest ;  for  it  is  remembered  now  for  its  association 
with  him  more  than  for  all  the  other  episodes  in  its  history 
put  together. 

Paul  came  to  Corinth  direct  from  Athens.  We  cannot 
tell  whether  he  came  by  land  or  sea,  but  he  was  still  alone ; 
for  Silas  had  not  come  from  Berea,  and  Timothy  had  not 
yet  returned  from  the  confidential  mission  to  Thessalonica 
on  which  he  had  been  sent.  Thus,  as  at  Athens,  the  apos- 
tle was  unaccompanied  save  by  his  invisible  Master,  when 

*  **  St.  Paul  in  Greece,"  by  Rev.  G.  S.  Davies,  M.  A.,  pp.  16S,  169. 


28o  Paul  the  Missionary. 

first  he  passed  through  the  streets  of  this  luxurious  and  dis- 
solute city.  His  earliest  care  was  to  secure  a  lodging  and 
the  means  of  earning  his  daily  bread.  Naturally,  therefore, 
he  went  to  the  locality  in  which  those  engaged  in  tent-mak- 
ing dwelt,  and  there  God  had  prepared  a  home  for  him,  for 
a  time  at  least,  in  the  house  of  a  Jewish  couple  who  had 
themselves  only  recently  arrived  from  Rome.  There  was, 
indeed,  in  Corinth,  as  in  other  great  commercial  centres,  a 
large  permanent  Jewish  population ;  but  just  at  this  junc- 
ture that  element  had  been  increased,  because,  by  a  decree 
of  the  Emperor  Claudius,  every  Jew  had  been  banished  from 
Rome. 

This  decree,  incidentally  mentioned  by  Luke,  is  referred 
to  by  the  Roman  historian  Suetonius,  who  says,  "  The  Jews, 
who  were  in  constant  tumult,  Chrestus  being  their  leader,  he 
banished  from  Rome."*  Most  scholars  believe  that  Chres- 
tus in  that  passage  is  a  corruption  for  Christus ;  and  they 
argue  that  already  the  Gospel  was  known  in  the  Imperial 
City,  and  that,  as  in  other  places,  the  Jews,  being  fiercely  op- 
posed to  it,  rose  up  against  the  early  converts.  This  caused 
disturbances  similar  to  those  which  we  have  seen  already  in 
Thessalonica  and  Berea,  and  as  in  the  course  of  these  out- 
breaks the  name  Christus  would  be  often  mentioned,  it  came 
to  be  regarded  as  that  of  a  leader  among  them;  but  not 
caring  to  enter  into  their  religious  disputes,  or  to  have  the 
peace  of  the  city  endangered  by  them,  the  emperor  banished 
the  Jews  in  a  body  from  the  capital. 

Among  those  who  came  under  the  sweep  of  this  decree 
were  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  who,  originally  from  Pontus,  had 
been  prosecuting  their  business  in  Rome,  and  had  now  found 


*  Suetonius  ;  Claudius,  c.  25.  See  the  passage  quoted  and  commented 
on  by  Plumptre  in  Ellicott's  "  New  Testament  Commentary  for  English 
Readers,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  120. 


The  First-fruits  of  Achaia.  281 

a  temporary  resting-place  in  Corinth,  Aquila  was  a  tent- 
maker,  and  the  apostle  fxnding  employment  in  the  same  call- 
ing, was  received  by  him  into  his  house,  the  result  being  that 
a  close  and  life-long  friendship  sprung  up  between  them. 
We  shall  afterward  find  that  they  were  in  Ephesus  at  the 
time  of  the  apostle's  sojourn  there.  From  other  incidental 
allusions  to  them,  we  discover  that  they  were  back  in  Rome 
when  he  wrote  his  letter  to  the  Christians  in  the  metropolis. 
Again,  when  he  dictated  his  last  letter  to  Timothy,  we  learn 
that  they  were  then  once  more  in  Ephesus.  It  does  not  ap- 
pear whether  when  the  apostle  first  made  their  acquaintance 
Aquila  and  Priscilla  were  Christians  or  not.  They  had  come 
from  Rome ;  and  as  there  were  already  many  disciples  in 
that  city,  it  is  not  impossible  that  they  were  converted  there. 
Had  that  been  the  case,  however,  we  might  have  expected 
that  they  would  have  been  described  here  as  adherents  to 
the  faith.  On  the  other  hand,  if  their  conversion  had  oc- 
curred after  Paul  had  come  to  know  them,  and  in  conse- 
quence of  his  dealings  with  them,  we  might  have  supposed 
that  such  a  fact  would  have  been  recorded,  and  that  he 
would  have  somewhere  spoken  of  them  as  his  children  in 
the  faith,  or  have  numbered  them,  as  he  did  others,  among 
"the  first-fruits  of  Achaia  unto  Christ."  On  the  whole, 
therefore,  I  am  disposed  to  conclude  that  they  were  already 
Christians,  and  that  Paul  found  in  that  the  reason  which 
determined  him  to  take  up  his  abode  with  them. 

At  his  first  arrival  in  Corinth,  Paul  was  thrown  entirely 
on  his  own  resources  for  his  temporal  support;  and  all 
through  his  residence  there  he  refused  to  accept  anything 
from  any  of  the  converts  in  acknowledgment  of  his  spiritu- 
al services.  He  did  this,  not  because  he  had  any  hesitation 
about  the  principle  that  he  that  is  taught  in  the  word  ought 
to  communicate  to  him  that  teacheth  in  all  good  things,  but 
rather  because,  as  at  Thessalonica,  there  v/as  some  local  rea- 


282  Paul  the  Missionary. 

son  why  he  considered  it  inexpedient  that  he  should  not 
insist  upon  his  right;  and  in  his  letters  to  them  he  is  care- 
ful to  let  it  be  known  that  his  conduct  in  this  matter  with 
them  was  exceptional — that  it  was,  in  a  sense,  a  wrong  which 
he  had  done  to  them,  and  that  it  was  not  to  be  construed 
into  a  precedent  binding  churches  and  preachers  general- 
ly. Yet  it  must  have  cost  him  much  to  carry  out  this  pur- 
pose, since  just  then,  as  we  learn  from  his  first  letter  to  the 
church  which  he  was  now  founding,  the  state  of  his  health 
was  far  from  good,  for  he  says  that  he  was  with  them  "  in 
weakness,  and  in  fear,  and  in  much  trembling."*  As  he  pros- 
ecuted his  work,  we  cannot  but  believe  that  he  would  find 
some  way  of  turning  the  thoughts  of  his  fellow-craftsmen 
in  the  direction  of  Christ.  Perhaps  the  larger  number  of 
those  among  whom  he  labored  were  Jews,  and  that  would 
give  them  a  deeper  interest  in  his  eyes ;  but  the  great  occa- 
sions for  his  evangelistic  exertions  were  on  the  Sabbaths, 
when  he  met  in  the  synagogue  his  kinsmen  according  to 
the  flesh,  and  such  Greeks  as,  without  having  become  pros- 
elytes, had  so  far  abjured  polytheism  as  to  number  them- 
selves among  the  worshippers  of  the  one  God.  Thus  he 
continued,  for  a  time,  working  during  the  other  days,  and 
preaching  on  the  Sabbaths,  until  his  two  companions  came 
from  Macedonia,  bringing  him  news  from  his  friends  at  Be- 
rea,  and  an  account  of  the  state  of  matters  at  Thessalonica. 
The  effect  of  this  intelligence  on  his  heart  is  detailed  by 
him  in  his  first  letter  to  the  Thessalonians,  wdiich  belongs 
to  this  date,  and  is  the  earliest  of  all  his  epistles.  He  says, 
"  When  Timothy  came  from  you  unto  us,  and  brought  us 
good  tidings  of  your  faith  and  charity,  and  that  ye  have 
good  remembrance  of  us  always,  desiring  greatly  to  see  us, 
as  we  also  to  see  you  :  therefore,  brethren,  v/e  were  comfort- 

*  I  Cor.  ii.,  3. 


The  First-Fruits  of  Achaia.  283 

ed  over  you  in  all  our  affliction  and  distress  by  your  faith : 
for  now  we  live,  if  ye  stand  fast  in  the  Lord."*  It  appears, 
however,  that  the  Thessalonians  had  either  misunderstood 
or  misapplied  certain  things  which  he  had  said,  during  his 
visit  to  their  city,  on  the  subject  of  the  Lord's  second  com- 
ing. They  imagined  that  his  advent  was  to  be  immediate, 
and  some  of  them  went  so  far  as  to  give  up  all  work,  that 
they  might  do  nothing  but  wait  for  his  appearing;  while 
others,  thinking  that  only  those  who  were  living  in  the  body 
at  the  time  would  share  in  the  glory  and  blessedness  of  his 
coming,  were  greatly  distressed  at  the  death  of  their  Chris- 
tian relatives.  Therefore  he  wrote  to  them  that  letter,  from 
which  I  have  just  quoted,  in  which  he  assures  his  readers 
that  the  dead  in  Christ,  so  far  from  being  deprived  of  the 
blessedness  connected  with  the  second  advent,  should  be 
raised  by  Christ  first,  before  the  living  should  be  changed, 
and  should  be  partakers  equally  with  the  living  in  that  state 
of  felicity  which  he  thus  sums  up :  "  So  shall  we  be  ever 
with  the  Lord."t 

The  second  letter  to  the  Thessalonians  belongs  to  this  same 
residence  in  Corinth,  and  may  perhaps  be  here  most  conven- 
iently characterized.  The  first  epistle  had  done  some  good ; 
but  after  they  had  received  it,  some  one  wishing — for  what 
purpose  does  not  appear — to  work  upon  their  feelings  and 
fears,  wrote  a  letter  in  the  apostle's  name,1:  in  which  it  was 
alleged  that  the  coming  of  the  Lord  was  close  upon  them. 
This  caused  great  consternation  among  them,  so  that  many 
were  walking  disorderly,  and  a  panic  was  created.  When 
Paul  heard  of  these  things  he  sent  his  second  epistle,  sup- 
plementing the  teachings  of  his  first  by  a  prophetic  forecast 
of  certain  things  which  were  to  take  place  before  the  coming 
of  the  Lord,  and  alleging  that  not  until  there  had  occurred 

*  I  Thess.  iii.,  6-8.  t  i  Thess.  iv.,  13-18.  t  2  Thess.  ii.,  2. 


284  Paul  the  Missionary. 

some  great  apostasy,  under  influences  which  he  has  personi- 
fied as  the  man  of  sin,  would  the  Lord  appear. 

It  has  often  been  alleged  that  the  statements  of  these  two 
epistles  are  inconsistent  with  each  other  on  the  subject  of 
the  second  coming;  and  that  the  fact  that  Christ  has  not 
yet  come  seems  to  falsify  the  assertions  which  they  contain, 
and  so  to  invalidate  the  claim  that  is  made  for  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  apostle.  I  have  never  seen  these  objections 
so  clearly  and  fully  met  as  in  the  following  sentences  from 
Dean  Alford,  which  I  quote  as  much  for  their  own  intrinsic 
importance  as  because  of  the  interest  which  has  been  re- 
cently awakened  in  this  old  topic:  "The  time  of  our  Lord's 
coming  was  hidden  from  all  created  beings — nay,  in  the  mys- 
tery of  his  mediatorial  office,  from  the  Son  himself  (Mark 
xiii.,  32).  Even  after  his  resurrection,  when  questioned  by 
the  apostles  as  to  the  time  of  his  restoring  the  kingdom  to 
Israel,  his  reply  is  still  that  it  is  not  for  them  to  know  the 
times  and  the  seasons,  which  the  Father  hath  put  in  his  own 
power  (Acts  i.,  7).  Here,  then,  is  a  plain  indication,  which 
has  not,  I  think,  been  sufficiently  made  use  of  in  judging  of 
the  epistles.  The  Spirit  was  to  testify  of  Christy  to  take  of 
the  things  of  Christ  and  show  them  unto  the  apostles.  So 
that,  however  much  that  Spirit,  in  his  infinite  wisdom,  might 
be  pleased  to  impart  to  them  of  the  details  and  accompany- 
ing circumstances  of  the  Lord's  appearing,  we  may  be  sure 
that  the  truth  spoken  by  the  Lord,  '  Of  that  day  and  hour 
knoweth  no  man,'  would  hold  good  with  regard  to  them, 
and  be  traced  in  their  writings.  If  they  were  true  men, 
and  their  words  and  epistles  the  genuine  production  of  in- 
spiration in  them  by  that  Spirit  of  Truth,  we  may  expect  to 
find  in  such  speeches  and  writings  tokens  of  their  appoint- 
ed uncertainty  of  day  and  hour :  expectations  true  in  ex- 
pression, and  fully  justified  by  appearance,  yet  corrected  as 
God's  purposes  were  manifested  by  advancing  experience 


The  First-Fruits  of  Achaia.  285 

and  larger  effusions  of  the  spirit  of  prophecy.  If  then  I 
find,  in  the  course  of  Paul's  epistles,  that  expressions  which 
occur  in  the  earlier  ones,  and  seem  to  indicate  expectation 
of  the  Lord's  almost  immediate  coming,  are  gradually  modi- 
fied— disappear  altogether  in  the  epistles  of  the  imprison- 
ment— and  are  succeeded  by  others  speaking  in  a  very  dif- 
ferent strain  of  dissolving  and  being  with  Christ,  and  pass- 
ing through  death  and  resurrection  in  the  latest  epistles,  I 
regard  it  not  as  a  strange  thing,  not'  as  a  circumstance  which 
I  must  explain  away  for  fear  of  weakening  the  authority  of 
the  epistles,  but  as  exactly  that  which  I  should  expect  to 
find  as  the  very  strongest  testimony  that  these  epistles  were 
written  by  one  who  was  left  in  uncertainty — not  by  one 
who  wished  to  make  it  appear  that  inspiration  had  rendered 
him  omniscient.  And  in  this,  the  earliest  of  those  epistles, 
I  do  find  exactly  that  which  I  might  expect  on  this  head. 
While  every  word  and  every  detail  respecting  the  Lord's 
coming  is  a  perpetual  inheritance  for  the  Church,  while  we 
continue  to  comfort  one  another  with  the  glorious  and  heart- 
stirring  sentences  which  he  utters  to  us  'in  the  word  of  the 
Lord,'  no  candid  eye  can  help  seeing  in  the  epistle  how  the 
uncertainty  of  '  the  day  and  the  hour '  has  tinged  all  these 
passages  with  a  hue  of  near  anticipation — how  natural  it  was 
that  the  Thessalonians,  receiving  this  epistle,  should  have 
allowed  that  anticipation  to  be  brought  even  yet  nearer, 
and  have  imagined  the  day  to  be  actually  at  hand.'"^ 

The  arrival  of  Silas  and  Timothy  tended  to  cheer  Paul, 
not  only  because  they  brought  good  news,  but  also  because 
of  the  influence  of  their  fellowship  and  co-operation  on  him. 
He  became  at  once  more  animated  and  earnest.  He  was 
"pressed  in  the  spirit;"  or,  as  another  and  better  reading 
has  it,  "in  word."     The  term  rendered  "pressed"  is  very 

*  Alford's  "  How  to  Study  the  New  Testament,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  38-40. 


286  Paul  the  Missionary. 

strong.  It  is  the  same  as  that  employed  by  Jesus  when, 
speaking  of  his  baptism  of  blood,  he  says,  "  How  am  I 
straitened  till  it  be  accomplished  V*  and  it  is  used  by  Paul 
himself  m  that  remarkable  passage  in  which,  vindicating 
himself  from  the  accusation  of  being  beside  himself,  he  says, 
''For  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  me."t  Literally  it 
means  "  he  was  held  together ;"  that  is  to  say,  he  was  con- 
centrated, soul,  body,  and  spirit,  upon  the  one  great  object  of 
his  mission — the  proclamation  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  The 
first  effect  of  this  outburst  of  earnestness  was  that  his  Jew- 
ish antagonists  were  provoked  to  more  bitter  opposition; 
and  when  they  blasphemed  and  rejected  Jesus,  he  depart- 
ed from  them,  saying,  with  the  symbolic  accompaniment  of 
the  shaking  of  his  raiment,  "  Your  blood  be  upon  your  own 
heads ;  I  am  clean :  from  henceforth  I  will  go  unto  the 
Gentiles."  After  that  he  ceased  to  enter  the  synagogue  ; 
but  the  house  adjoining  it,  which  belonged  to  a  proselyte 
named  Justus,  was  placed  at  his  disposal,  and  there  he  stat- 
edly met  all  who  chose  to  wait  upon  his  ministry.  The 
Lord  again  "  gave  testimony  to  the  word  of  his  grace," 
and  many  w^ere  converted.  Foremost  among  these  was  the 
household  of  Stephanas,  whom  he  calls  "the  first-fruits  of 
Achaia,"!  to  Christ;  and  Epenetus,  who  is  similarly  spoken 
of  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  §  Nor  must  we  forget 
Crispus,  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue,  and  Gaius,  who  on  his 
subsequent  visit  to  Corinth  entertained  him  in  his  house.  || 
All  these,  with  the  exception  of  Epenetus,  the  apostle,  con- 
trary to  his  custom,  baptized  with  his  own  hand  ;  and  after 
the  appearance  of  division  among  the  members  of  the  Co- 
rinthian Church,  we  find  him  recording  his  thanks  that  he 
had  baptized  none  others  there ;  for  his  object  w^as  not  to 


*  Luke  xii.,  50.  t  2  Cor.  v.,  14.  i  i  Cor.  xvi.,  15. 

§  Rom.  xvi.,  5.  II  Rom.  xvi.,  23. 


The  First-Fruits  of  Achaia.  287 

found  a  sect  of  Paulites,  but  to  bring  men  to  Christ ;  not  to 
baptize — so  little  did  he  reckon  of  that  ordinance  which  has 
been  made  an  occasion  of  disunion  in  modern  times — but 
to  preach  the  Gospel.* 

Besides  those  whom  we  have  named,  and  who  seem  to 
have  been  persons  of  note,  we  are  told  that  many  of  the  Co- 
rinthians hearing, believed, and  were  baptized;  and  of  these 
some  at  least  had  been  deeply  aggravated  sinners,  for  thus 
he  writes  to  them  :t  "  Be  not  deceived  :  neither  fornicators, 
nor  idolaters,  nor  adulterers,  nor  effeminate,  nor  abusers 
of  themselves  with  mankind,  nor  thieves,  nor  covetous,  nor 
drunkards,  nor  revilers,  nor  extortioners,  shall  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  God.  And  such  were  some  of  you  :  but  ye  are 
washed,  but  ye  are  sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God."  But 
in  spite  of,  nay,  perhaps  just  because  of  these  trophies  of 
the  Gospel's  power,  greater  trials  were  before  him;  and 
God,  who  "sendeth  no  man  a  warfare  on  his  own  charges," 
prepared  him,  by  a  special  manifestation  of  his  grace,  to 
meet  and  overcome  them.  The  Lord  stood  by  him  in  a 
vision,  saying,  "Be  not  afraid,  but  speak,  and  hold  not  thy 
peace :  for  I  am  with  thee,  and  no  man  shall  set  on  thee  to 
hurt  thee :  for  I  have  much  people  in  this  city."  On  the 
strength  of  that  assurance  he  held  on  at  his  work  for  eigh- 
teen months,  instructing  the  converted,  convincing  the  in- 
quiring, and  silencing  the  gainsaying ;  but  at  the  end  of 
that  time  an  attempt  was  made  to  put  an  end  to  his  labors 
through  the  intervention  of  a  new  proconsul,  who  had  just 
come  to  take  the  oversight  of  the  province.  His  name  was 
originally  Junius  Annaeus  Novatus ;  but  he  took  that  of 
Gallio  when  he  was  adopted  into  the  family  of  Junius  Gal- 
lio,  the  rhetorician  ;  and  by  that  he  is  known  both  here  and 

*  I  Cor.  i.,  14-17.  t  I  Cor.  vi.,  9-1 1. 

13 


288  Paul  the  Missionary. 

in  profane  history.  He  was  the  brother  of  Seneca,  the  fa- 
mous Roman  philosopher,  who  speaks  of  him  with  great  af- 
fection, and  describes  him  as  a  man  of  integrity,  who  gained 
the  regard  of  all  with  whom  he  came  into  contact  by  his 
amiable  temper  and  winning  manners.  Presuming,  perhaps, 
on  his  easy  good-nature,  the  enemies  of  Paul  made  the  ar- 
rival of  this  man  at  Corinth  the  occasion  for  dragging  the 
apostle  before  him  on  the  accusation  of  "persuading  men 
to  worship  God  contrary  to  the  law."  But  they  had  reck- 
oned without  their  host ;  for,  fresh  from  the  disturbances  in 
Rome,  and  not  wishing  to  be  mixed  up  with  what  he  re- 
garded as  a  Jewish  dispute,  above  all  recognizing  the  limits 
of  his  office  which  had  to  do  with  civil  and  not  religious 
matters,  he  said, "  If  it  were  a  matter  of  wrong  or  wicked 
lewdness,  O  ye  Jews,  reason  would  that  I  should  bear  with 
you  :  but  if  it  be  a  question  of  words  and  names,  and  of  your 
lav/,  look  ye  to  it ;  for  I  will  be  no  judge  of  such  matters. 
And  he  drave  them  from  the  judgment  seat."  Seeing  that 
the  Jews  were  not  sustained  by  the  proconsul,  the  Gentiles, 
who  were  always  glad  of  an  opportunity  of  showing  their 
animosity  to  the  Israelites,  took  Sosthenes,the  chief  ruler  of 
the  synagogue — either  the  successor  of  Crispus  or  the  pres- 
ident of  another  synagogue — and  beat  him  severely,  while 
Gallio,  winking  hard,  took  no  notice  of  the  outrage,  and  was 
probably  secretly  enjoying  this  new  illustration  of  "  the  biter 
bit;"  for  "he  cared  for  none  of  these  things."  Thus  there 
is  something  to  be  blamed  as  well  as  to  be  praised  in  the 
conduct  of  the  proconsul.  He  was  right  in  refusing  to  be- 
come a  judge  in  religious  affairs.  He  was  right  in  declin- 
ing to  put  Paul  down  by  the  force  of  the  civil  power;  and  it 
would  have  been  well  for  the  world  if  rulers  had  been  wise 
enough  in  all  ages  and  nations  to  act  upon  this  principle. 
But  he  was  wrong  in  allowing  any  outrage  to  be  perpetrated 
on  Sosthenes.     The  Greeks  had  as  little  right  to  maltreat 


The  First-Fruits  of  Achaia.  289 

him,  as  Sosthenes  had  to  interfere  with  Paul ;  and  Gallio,  as 
the  impartial  dispenser  of  justice,  while  declining  to  take 
any  action  in  the  case  of  Paul,  should  have  protected  Sos- 
thenes, and  insisted  on  the  preservation  of  the  public  peace. 
So  far,  therefore,  he  was  to  be  condemned  ;  but  the  phrase, 
"  He  cared  for  none  of  these  things,"  must  not  be  inter- 
preted as  if  he  had  no  regard  for  truth,  or  was  personally  in- 
different to  religion.  That  may  or  may  not  have  been  the 
case.  But  in  justice  we  must  protest  against  making  these 
words  of  Luke's  narrative  imply  that  he  was  a  thorough  ag- 
nostic, with  no  principles  strong  enough  to  make  him  either 
one  thing  or  another.  They  simply  mean  that  he  was  in- 
different to  the  tumult  which  resulted  in  the  beating  of 
Sosthenes. 

It  is  a  Httle  remarkable  that  a  person  named  Sosthenes 
is  associated  with  Paul  in  the  salutation  of  the  first  of  the 
two  letters  to  the  Corinthians,  and  it  may  be  that  he  was 
the  same  person  that  is  mentioned  in  the  history  of  this 
riot.  But  as  the  name  was  far  from  an  uncommon  one,  it 
is  perhaps  more  natural  to  suppose  that  the  reference  is  to 
two  different  men. 

After  this  tumult  Paul  remained  "  a  good  while  "  longer 
at  Corinth ;  but  here  we  must  meanwhile  leave  him,  while 
we  gather  up  a  few  practical  lessons  from  this  portion  of 
his  history. 

And,  in  the  first  place,  we  have  suggested  to  us  the  digni- 
ty of  labor.  It  may  be  strange  to  us  now,  with  our  modern 
notions  of  the  clergy,  to  think  of  the  apostle  as  handling 
the  commonplace  tools  of  a  tent -maker;  yet,  when  occa- 
sion called  for  it,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  work  at  that  humble 
craft.  Nor  was  he  ashamed  of  his  toil.  He  felt  that  he 
was  serving  Christ  as  really  in  the  prosecution  of  that  sort 
of  manual  labor  as  in  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel ;  and  we 
may  be  sure  that  he  endeavored  to  do  his  best  in  both.     It 


2QO  Paul  the  Missionary. 

was  said  of  a  humble  seamstress  that  "she  put  her  con- 
science into  every  stitch;"  and  I  am  confident  that  our  apos- 
tle would  do  everything  that  was  required  of  him  with  all 
his  heart.  He  would  think  not  merely  of  his  human  em- 
ployer, but  also  and  especially  of  his  Divine  Master,  and 
the  love  which  he  bore  to  his  Lord  would  show  itself  in  the 
excellence  of  the  work  he  did.  Before  men,  his  ability  to 
labor  for  his  own  support  gave  him  a  noble  independence ; 
before  God,  it  furnished  him  an  opportunity  of  showing  his 
fidelity  even  in  that  which  was  least. 

But  if  he  was  not  ashamed  of  his  manual  labor,  neither 
was  he  afraid,  while  engaged  in  his  work,  to  let  his  Chris- 
tian character  come  out,  and  seek  the  good  of  his  fellow- 
craftsmen.  Indeed,  it  would  seem  that  as  one  result  of 
such  efforts  the  workshop  of  Aquila  became  a  Christian 
church ;  and  in  this  we  have  another  illustration  of  the  ef- 
fectiveness of  that  close  personal  dealing  with  men,  one  by 
one,  which,  alas  !  is  too  frequently  neglected  by  those  who 
are  ambitious  of  addressing  some  great  congregation.  Now, 
what  an  example  have  we  in  all  this  for  the  Christian  arti- 
sans of  our  modern  times  ?  Let  them  not  be  ashamed  of 
their  handicraft.  An  honest  man  supporting  himself  and 
his  family  by  his  faithful  labor,  no  matter  how  lowly  the 
trade  at  which  he  works  may  be,  is  one  of  the  noblest  sights 
the  sun  looks  down  upon  on  earth.  When  we  remember 
that  the  hands  of  the  Lord  Jesus  were  familiar  with  the  im- 
plements of  the  carpenter,  and  that  those  of  Paul  often  min- 
istered to  his  necessities,  we  must  feel  that  there  is  a  dig- 
nity in  manual  labor  which  is  far  above  that  which  is  con- 
ferred by  any  patent  of  nobility,  or  any  trappings  of  wealth. 
I  never  go  into  a  joiner's  shop  and  hear  the  "  whish  "  of  the 
plane,  or  the  rasp  of  the  saw,  or  the  stroke  of  the  hammer 
without  thinking  of  my  Lord  at  Nazareth,  and  honoring 
the  workman  for  the  Saviour's  sake.     No  man  can  be  dis- 


The  First-Fruits  of  Achaia.  291 

graced  by  doing  what  he  did;  and  if  our  working-men  who 
are  Christians  would  only  imitate  him,  and  seek,  like  Paul, 
while  not  neglecting  the  work  before  them,  to  use  their  op- 
portunities for  publishing  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  they 
would  be  the  noblest  of  home  missionaries,  and  would  com- 
pel their  employers  to  hold  them  in  honor.    We  have  heard 
much  of  late  of  the  relations  between  capital  and  labor,  and 
many  advices  have  been  given  for  the  prevention  of  those 
misunderstandings  which  have  given   birth  to  strikes   and 
the  various  forms  of  socialism — fraught  with  so  much  mis- 
chief to   the   commonwealth  —  but   never   until   employers 
and  employes   alike   become   the  disciples  of  Christ,  and 
learn  thus  to  honor  each  other,  will  there  be  any  permanent 
improvement.     Christ  is  the   great  peace -maker  between 
man  and  man,  even  as  he  is  the  only  mediator  between  God 
and  man.     He  alone,  who  shed  his  blood  for  sinners,  can 
truly  teach  us  to  "  honor  all  men,"  and  to  do  to  others  as 
we  would  that  they  should  do  to  us ;  and  these  unseemly 
controversies  shall  cease  only  when  masters  and  workmen 
alike   shall  own   allegiance  to  him.      That  is  a  delightful 
scene  described  in  the  sweet  pastoral  of  the  Book  of  Ruth, 
when,  as  Boaz  went  out  to  the  field  wherein  his  servants 
were  reaping,  he  said  to  them,  "The  Lord  be  with  you;" 
and  they  answered  him,  "  The  Lord  bless  thee."    There  was 
piety  combined  with   industr}^  and,  as  the   result,  mutual 
courtesy  and  consideration.      Now,  when  the  same  spirit 
of  reverence  for  God  shall  possess  alike  employers  and  em- 
ployed, the  same  respect  for  each  other  shall  be  cherished 
by  them.     The  fault  is  not  merely  that  the  principles  of  po- 
litical economy  are  so  little  understood,  though  much  might 
be  accomplished  through  the  diffusion  of  a  knowledge  of 
that  science;    but  also  and  especially  that  neither  of  the 
two  classes  more  immediately  interested  has  yet  begun  to 
comprehend  or  act  upon  the  far-reaching  principles  of  the 


292  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Gospel  of  Christ.  The  only  remedy  that  will  effectually  ar- 
rest the  evil,  to  which  so  many  are  looking  with  dismay,  is 
home  evangelization ;  and  even  as  an  insurance  premium 
against  such  a  cataclysm  as  Paris  witnessed  a  few  years 
ago,  it  would  be  well  for  those  who  are  numbered  among 
the  capitalists  of  our  country  to  give  liberal  support  to  all 
agencies  that  are  seeking  wisely  the  conversion  of  the  peo- 
ple in  our  tenement  houses  and  on  our  wharves. 

But,  in  the  second  place,  we  have  in  this  narrative  a 
beautiful  example  of  conjugal  co-operation  in  the  Gospel 
of  Christ.  To-night,  for  the  first  time,  we  come  into  contact 
with  that  excellent  couple  who  were  so  helpful  to  Paul  and 
so  beloved  by  him — Priscilla  and  Aquila.  It  is  remarkable 
that  they  are  always  mentioned  together  as  being  of  one 
heart  and  mind  in  religious  things ;  and  it  is  further  note- 
worthy that  wherever  they  were,  their  house  was  opened  as 
a  meeting-place  for  the  believers.  Thus  in  Ephesus,  whither 
they  accompanied  Paul  from  Corinth,  we  find*  that  there 
was  a  church  in  their  house ;  and  at  Rome,  whither  they 
went  from  Ephesus,  we  discovert  that  there  also  they  main- 
tained their  former  habit,  while  the  expressions  used  con- 
cerning them  by  the  apostle  when  he  says  that  they  had  laid 
down  their  own  necks  for  his  sake,  and  that  not  only  he,  but 
also  all  the  Gentile  churches  gave  them  thanks,  are  such  as 
to  indicate  that  they  had  both  risked  their  lives  for  his  pres- 
ervation and  rendered  him  great  assistance  in  his  work. 
Now,  what  a  delightful  picture  of  Christian  unity  does  the 
combination  of  these  different  features  present?  William 
Arnot  has  compared  the  conjugal  union  in  some  cases  to 
that  of  two  ships  at  sea  bound  to  each  other  by  short,  strong 
chains.  They  are  not  so  identified  as  to  be  one,  and  yet 
they  are  not  so  apart  as  to  be  separated.     So  it  happens 

*  I  Cor.  xvi.,  19.  t  Rom.  xvi.,  3. 


The  First-Fruits  of  Achaia.  293 

that  when  a  storm  rises  they  have  separate  and  independent 
motion,  while  yet  they  are  chained  together;  and  thus  "they 
will  rasp  each  other's  sides  off,  and  tear  open  each  other's 
hearts,  and  go  down  together."^^  This,  alas  !  is  only  too  vivid 
an  illustration  of  what  sometimes  happens  in  that  relation- 
ship which  ought  to  be  the  sweetest  and  most  helpful  of  hu- 
man life.  The  husband  and  the  wife  oppose  each  other. 
She  would  be  ready  to  do  much  in  the  service  of  the  Lord, 
but  he  prevents  her,  if  not  by  positive  antagonism,  at  least 
with  that  negative  obstructiveness  which  is  equally  effective 
in  securing  its  purpose.  Or  he  would  become  an  active 
member  of  the  Church,  and  a  leader  in  all  good  works,  but 
she  regards  everything  of  the  sort  with  dislike,  and  therefore 
he  does  nothing.  An  old  proverb  says  that  "  a  man  can  be 
no  richer  than  his  wife  will  let  him ;"  and  that  holds  of  the 
riches  of  faith  and  of  good  works  as  well  as  of  the  vulgar 
wealth  of  earth ;  while,  again,  it  is  just  as  true  that  the  wife 
can  do  little  or  nothing  against  the  influence  of  the  hus- 
band. Therefore,  let  those  who  are  knit  together  in  that  sa- 
cred union  seek  to  be  truly  one  in  tiiis4j|Aj|^hest  and  no- 
blest of  all  co-operation — the  fellowsS^^^Bfcospel.  Let 
them  strengthen  each  other's  handiJ^^^^Hnd  let  their 
home  be  opened  to  any  faithful  Paul  '^BP^quent  Apol- 
los  whom  God  in  his  providence  may  send  them.  There 
are  no  more  touching  chapters  in  this  history  than  those 
which  tell  of  the  friendship  between  this  couple  and  our 
noble  apostle;  and  the  tender  tone  in  which  he  always  con- 
nects Priscilla  with  her  husband  is  a  convincing  proof  of 
the  falsehood  of  that  modern  libel  that  Paul  was  deficient 
in  his  appreciation  of  womanhood. 

We  are  reminded,  in  the  third  place,  that  increased  ear- 


*  "  Laws  from  Heaven  for  Life  on  Earth,"  by  William  Arnot,  First 
Series,  p.  136. 


294  Paul  the  Missionary. 

nestness  in  the  service  of  God  provokes  increased  opposi- 
tion from  its  enemies.  When  the  apostle  came  to  Corinth, 
he  was  probably  in  feeble  health,  and  he  was  certainly  some- 
what depressed  in  spirit.  He  was,  more  than  perhaps  we 
think,  a  man  of  moods ;  and  he  had,  besides,  an  extremely 
sensitive  disposition.  Added  to  these  characteristics  was 
a  tenderness  of  attachment  to  those  whom  he  really  loved, 
which  made  him  long  for  them  greatly  when  he  happened  to 
be  absent  from  them.  Now,  when  we  take  all  these  things 
into  account,  and  remember  that  Silas  and  Timothy  were 
not  with  him  when  he  entered  Corinth,  we  can  understand 
why  he  had  little  "  liberty  "  in  his  first  ministrations  there. 
But  when  his  fellow -evangelists  came  to  him  with  good 
tidings,  his  joy  of  heart  returned,  and  with  that  his  energy 
for  his  work  came  back  again.  His  earnestness  unified  his 
purpose,  and  led  him  to  concentrate  his  efforts  on  the  proc- 
lamation of  one  central  truth.  As  we  learn  from  his  epis- 
tles, he  "  delivered  unto  them  first  of  all  that  which  he  also 
received,  how  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the 
Scriptures ;  and  that  he  was  buried,  and  that  he  rose  again 
from  the  dead  according  to  the  Scriptures."  He  determined 
"  not  to  know  anything  among  them  but  Jesus  Christ  and 
him  crucified."  He  proclaimed  that  "  God  was  in  Christ 
reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,  not  imputing  their  tres- 
passes unto  them."*  This  increased  fervor  of  concentration 
on  his  work  of  preaching  the  simple  Gospel  produced  at 
once  new  antagonism.  The  Jews  were  indignant  at  the 
universal  terms  in  which  his  message  was  expressed.  The 
Greeks  ridiculed  the  very  idea  of  salvation  through  faith  in 
one  who  had  been  crucified.  To  the  former  the  cross  was 
a  stumbling-block;  to  the  latter  it  was  foolishness :  yet  the 
preacher  held  on  ;  and  the  result  in  the  conversion  of  many 
of  the  vilest  in  that  vile  city  amply  repaid  his  efforts. 

*  I  Cor.  XV.,  3  ;  ii.,  2  ;  2  Cor.  v.,  19. 


The  First-Fruits  of  Achaia.  295 

Now,  from  this  experience  of  his,  let  us  learn  not  to  be 
distressed  by  antagonism.  That  is  only  the  testimony  borne 
to  our  earnestness  by  our  opponents.  If  we  were  feeble  in 
our  advocacy  of  truth,  or  in  our  assaults  on  error,  the  world 
would  let  us  alone.  But  so  soon  as  we  put  forth  our  efforts 
like  men  who  are  "pressed  in  spirit,"  enemies  will  assail 
us  with  all  their  force.  If  they  see  in  us  the  spirit  of  com- 
promise they  will  not  trouble  themselves  about  us ;  but  if 
they  perceive  that,  like  Paul,  we  have  loyalty  to  conscience 
and  to  Christ,  they  will  endeavor  by  all  means  in  their  pow- 
er to  get  rid  of  us.  Still,  they  cannot  do  always  what  they 
wish,  for  God  had  promised  to  take  care  of  Paul,  and  he 
will  protect  us.  No  longer  now,  indeed,  have  we  such  vis- 
ible manifestations  of  his  presence  as  those  which  Paul 
enjoyed ;  but  every  candid  reader  of  the  lives  of  such  men 
as  William  Tyndale,  Martin  Luther,  John  Knox,  and  John 
Bunyan  will  discover  that  God  was  with  them  in  their  times 
of  extremity  just  as  really  as  he  was  here  with  the  apostle. 
Nay,  are  there  not  some  among  ourselves  who  can  "say  that 
he  has  protected  us,  and  who  from  our  own  experience  can 
encourage  those  who,  it  may  be,  are  now  in  conflict  ?  De- 
spair not,  ye  who  are  contending  with  many  and  malicious 
adversaries.  You  may  be  surrounded  with  earthly  antag- 
onists, but  between  you  and  them  there  is  an  inner  rampart 
which  one  who  knew  its  impregnability  has  thus  described : 
"  The  angel  of  the  Lord  encampeth  round  about  them  that 
fear  him,  and  delivereth  them."  Go  then,  and  be  this  your 
song,  "  Though  a  host  should  encamp  against  me,  my  heart 
shall  not  fear :  though  war  should  rise  against  me,  in  this 
will  I  be  confident.  For  in  the  time  of  trouble  he  shall  hide 
me  in  his  pavilion :  in  the  secret  of  his  tabernacle  shall  he 
hide  me ;  he  shall  set  me  up  upon  a  rock."* 


*  Psa.  xxxiv.,  7  ;  xxvii.,  3,  5. 


XVI. 

EPHESUS. 

Acts  xviii.,  i8;  xix.,  20. 

AFTER  the  failure  of  the  Jews  to  bring  Paul  under  the 
ban  of  the  Roman  proconsul  at  Corinth,  the  apostle 
remained  for  a  considerable  time  longer  in  the  city,  and  was 
permitted  to  carry  on  his  work  without  molestation  or  in- 
terference from  any  quarter.  But  it  w^as  not  his  particu- 
lar mission  to  settle  permanently  in  any  place,  however  im- 
portant or  central  it  might  be.  He  seems  rather  to  have 
been  fired  with  the  noble  ambition  of  beginning  the  work 
of  the  Lord  in  many  such  cities,  and  leaving  those  who 
were  the  earliest  converts  to  the  faith  to  prosecute  the  en- 
terprise as  best  they  might,  while  he  commended  them  to 
the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  continued,  as  his  let- 
ters attest,  to  take  himself  a  loving  and  watchful  interest  in 
their  welfare.  In  this  way  the  churches  even  in  apostolic 
days  were  trained  for  the  time  when  the  apostles  should  be 
no  longer  on  the  earth ;  for  they  were  left  very  much  to 
their  own  resources,  and  only  when  something  called  for 
rectification  among  them  was  apostolical  authority  exer- 
cised over  them.  So  Paul  did  not  remain  altogether  at 
Corinth,  but,  after  a  formal  leave-taking  of  the  brethren, 
he  went  to  Cenchrea,  the  eastern  port  of  the  city,  and  took 
ship  for  Syria.  But  before  embarking  he  perform.ed  a  cere- 
monial act  which  calls  for  some  attention  from  us,  though 
when  we  have  said  all  that  can  be  said  about  it  we  shall  still* 
be  left  in  much  uncertainty.     Luke  says  he  "took  his  leave 


Ephesus.  297 

of  the  brethren,  and  sailed  thence  into  Syria,  and  with  him 
Priscilla  and  Aquila ;  having  shorn  his  head  at  Cenchrea : 
for  he  had  a  vow."  Some  have  cut  the  knot  by  alleging 
that  the  act  thus  described  must  be  understood  as  Aquila's, 
and  not  as  Paul's.  Now,  it  is  true  that  in  the  original  the 
participle  "  having  shorn  "  may  be  read  in  connection  with 
Aquila  as  the  person  last  named;  but  still  the  natural  and 
obvious  reference  of  the  word  is  to  Paul,  as  being  the  prin- 
cipal subject  of  the  sentence.  The  very  next  clause  refers 
to  him  as  distinguished  from  Aquila  ;  and,  as  Alford  has  ob- 
served, there  are  in  the  paragraph  from  the  eighteenth  to  the 
end  of  the  twenty-third  verse  no  fewer  than  nine  participles, 
of  which  eight  undeniably  refer  to  Paul ;  and  that  affords  a 
very  strong  presumption,  amounting  almost  to  a  decisive 
proof,  that  the  ninth  one,  which  is  the  case  in  dispute,  must 
be  connected  with  him  too.*  Moreover,  the  shaving  or  shear- 
ing of  the  head  involved  in  it  a  visit  as  soon  as  possible  af- 
terward to  Jerusalem  ;  but  Aquila,  as  we  shall  find,  went  no 
farther  than  Ephesus,  while  the  apostle  hastened  forward  to 
the  Holy  City.  Besides,  it  will  not  do  to  turn  away  from 
that  which  is  the  first  view  that  is  suggested  to  us  by  the 
words,  simply  because  v;e  think  that  the  action  which  they 
describe  is  one  which  is  inconsistent  with  what  the  apostle 
has  elsewhere  said.  There  is  nothing  wrong,  in  itself  con- 
sidered, in  making  a  vow,  provided  that  to  which  we  bind 
ourselves  be  not  in  its  own  nature  sinful.  Jacob  vowed  a 
vow  before  the  Mosaic  law  came  into  existence ;  and  Paul 
is  not  necessarily  to  be  blamed  for  doing  the  same  thing, 
even  though  he  has  affirmed  that  obedience  to  that  law  is 
not  essential  to  salvation.  He  was  a  Jew,  and  as  such  he 
may  have  continued  by  preference  to  practise  the  customs 
of  his  nation,  even  though  he  refused  to  make  them  obliga- 

*  See  Alford's  "Greek  Testament,"  in  loco. 


298  Paul  the  Missionary. 

tory  on  others.  Nay,  on  a  subsequent  occasion  in  his  his- 
tory, when  he  paid  his  last  visit  to  Jerusalem,  we  actually, 
and  without  any  possibility  of  controversy  regarding  it,  find 
him  counselled  by  the  brethren  to  take  part  with  others  in 
the  observance  of  the  ritual  appointed  for  those  who  had 
taken  a  vow  upon  them,  and  it  is  recorded  that  "  Paul  took 
the  men,  and  the  next  day,  purifying  himself  with  them,  en- 
tered into  the  Temple,  to  signify  the  accomplishment  of  the 
days  of  purification,  until  that  an  offering  should  be  offered 
for  every  one  of  them.'"*  Now,  in  the  light  of  that  state- 
ment, we  have  no  hesitation  whatever  in  referring  the  vow 
and  the  shearing  of  the  head  at  Cenchrea  specified  in  the 
narrative  before  us,  not  to  Aquila,  but  to  Paul. 

When,  however,  we  go  on  to  ask  what  was  the  nature  of  this 
vow,  and  what  was  its  relation  to  the  Jewish  law,  we  have  a 
little  more  difficulty  in  coming  to  a  decision.  The  law  con- 
cerning the  vow  of  the  Nazarite  was  that  the  person  who 
made  it  was  to  abstain  from  wine  and  strong  drink,  and  was 
to  allow  no  razor  to  come  upon  his  head  until  the  time  ap- 
pointed had  expired.  If  accidentally  he  should  defile  him- 
self by  coming  into  contact  with  a  dead  body,  he  was  to 
shave  his  head,  offer  certain  prescribed  sacrifices,  and  begin 
anew,  counting  nothing  for  the  time  which  had  elapsed ;  but 
if  nothing  interfered,  then  at  the  end  of  the  days  he  was  to 
offer  sacrifices  after  an  appointed  form ;  and  it  is  added  in 
the  statute,  "  The  Nazarite  shall  shave  the  head  of  his  sep- 
aration at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation, 
and  shall  take  the  hair  of  his  separation  and  put  it  in  the 
fire  which  is  under  the  sacrifice  of  the  peace  offering."t 
From  this  it  appears  that  the  shaving  of  the  head  marked 
either  the  contracting  of  ceremonial  uncleanness  by  a  man 
who  was  under   a  vow,  or  the  terminaion  of  the  time  for 

*  Acts  xxi.  26.  t  Numb,  vi.,  1-21. 


Ephesus.  299 

which  the  vow  was  taken.  In  the  case  before  us,  the  latter 
seems  to  me  to  have  been  the  occasion  of  the  shearing  of 
Paul's  hair ;  but  the  law  provided  that  it  should  be  con- 
nected with  the  offering  of  sacrifice ;  and  as  that  could  be 
done  only  at  Jerusalem,  we  may  find  therein  the  reason  for 
Paul's  urgency  to  visit  the  Holy  City  at  this  particular  time, 
for  he  said  to  the  Ephesian  Jews,  "  I  must  by  all  means 
keep  this  feast  that  cometh  in  Jerusalem." 

But  why  should  he  be  making  a  vow  at  all  ?  Some  would 
reply  that  he  desired  simply  to  conciliate  his  kinsmen  ac- 
cording to  the  flesh  by  letting  them  see  that,  though  he  was 
uncompromising  in  his  contending  for  the  liberty  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, he  was  himself  quite  willing  to  conform  to  the  law  of 
Moses  as  a  Jew,  and  no  doubt  this  was  one  of  the  instances 
in  which  he  became  as  a  Jew  to  the  Jews.  But  there  must 
have  been  some  special  occasion  for  his  manifestation  of 
this  conformity ;  and  perhaps  Josephus  may  help  us  to  dis- 
cover what  that  was  when  he  says  that  "  it  was  customary 
for  those  who  had  been  afflicted  with  any  distemper,  or  had 
labored  under  any  other  difficulties,  to  make  a  vow  that  for 
thirty  days  before  they  offered  sacrifice  they  will  abstain 
from  wine,  and  will  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  shave  their 
heads."  Now  we  know  that  Paul  had  been  afflicted  with 
great  bodily  weakness  at  Corinth,  and  we  further  know  that 
he  had  been  in  considerable  danger  from  his  enemies,  for 
God  would  not  have  favored  him  with  so  encouraging  a 
vision  as  that  referred  to  in  our  last  lecture  if  he  had  not 
felt  himself  encompassed  with  adversaries.  It  is  probable, 
therefore,  that  his  vow  was  in  connection  with  his  recovery 
from  illness,  or  with  his  deliverance  from  his  enemies  when 
they  dragged  him  before  Gallio's  tribunal. 

He  was  accompanied  on  his  voyage  by  Aquila  and  Pris- 
cilla ;  and  probably  also  by  Timothy  and  Silas.  Perhaps 
Gaius  and  Aristarchus,  who  are  afterward  found  at  Ephe- 


300  Paul  the  Missionary. 

sus,.and  are  called  his  "companions  in  travel,"*  were  also 
fellow -passengers  with  him.  The  sail  to  Ephesus  some- 
times required  ten  or  eleven  days  ;t  but  at  the  season  of  the 
year  when  Paul  was  travelling,  it  might  be  accomplished  in 
a  much  shorter  time.  At  Ephesus  he  landed  either  to  take 
another  vessel,  or  to  spend  a  day  or  two  in  the  city,  while 
that  in  which  he  came  took  in  more  cargo  before  proceed- 
ing to  Caesarea.  One  of  the  days  so  spent  was  the  Sab- 
bath; and  ever  on  the  outlook  for  an  opportunity  of  use- 
fulness, he  entered  into  the  Jewish  synagogue  and  reasoned 
with  his  fellow-countrymen,  after  his  manner,  out  of  the 
Scriptures.  His  hearers  were  deeply  interested  in  his  state- 
ments, and  eagerly  desired  that  he  would  remain  among 
them ;  but  he  was  bent  on  reaching  Jerusalem  for  the  feast 
— either  the  Passover  or  the  Pentecost — which  was  then  ap- 
proaching ;  and  promising  to  return  to  them,  if  God  would 
permit,  he  left  Aquila  and  Priscilla  with  them,  and  proceed- 
ed on  his  voyage. 

On  his  arrival  at  Caesarea  he  went  direct  to  Jerusalem, 
and  having  saluted  the  church  there,  on  this  his  fourth  visit 
since  his  conversion,  he  left  Silas  with  his  friends,  and,  ac- 
companied by  Timothy,  proceeded  to  Antioch,  thus  com- 
pleting his  second  missionary  circuit. 

After  spending  some  time  happily  there  with  his  former 
friends,  and  enjoying  a  brief  season  of  respite  from  anxiety 
and  peril,  he  set  forth  on  his  third  missionary  journey,  tak- 
ing his  way  through  the  cities  of  Galatia  and  Phiygia  in 
order,  and  strengthening  all  the  disciples.  In  the  churches 
of  the  former  province  it  would  appear  that  some  evil  influ- 
ence had  been  at  work,  for  he  found  it  necessary  to  denounce 
every  one  who  had  preached  to  them  another  gospel  than 
that  which  he  proclaimed,  while  at  the  same  time  he  told 

*  Acts  xix.,  29.  t  Conybeare  and  Howson,  vol.  i. ,13.454. 


__ — 9 


♦ 


Ephesus.  301 

them  some  unpalatable  truth,  for  which  they  counted  hhn  as 
their  enemy.*  ^^'e  know  next  to  nothing  of  what  was  said 
or  done  by  him  on  this  occasion,  but  it  is  likely  that  he 
passed  on  to  Phrygia  in  the  hope  that  he  had  re-established 
the  Galatians  in  the  faith.  In  the  province  last  named  were 
the  cities  of  Laodicea,  Hierapolis,  Colosse,  and  Iconium,  and 
in  the  neighboring  district  were  Antioch  of  Pisidia  and  the 
cities  of  Lycaonia ;  but  we  cannot  tell  precisely  what  course 
the  apostle  followed,  and  it  is  nearly  certain  that  some  of 
the  Phr3'gian  cities  had  not  been  visited  by  him  before  he 
wrote  his  letter  to  the  Colossians.  All  we  know  is  that  after 
he  had  passed  through  this  high-lying  district  he  repaired 
to  Ephesus,  there  to  begin  those  labors  which  he  prosecuted 
night  and  day  "by  the  space  of  three  years." 

Before  he  reached  that  city,  however,  Aquila  and  Priscilla 
were  instrumental  in  preparing  the  way  for  his  labors,  and 
the  historian  pauses  for  a  moment  and  introduces  a  brief 
digression  that  we  may  the  better  understand  what  is  to  fol- 
low. There  came  to  Ephesus,  during  Paul's  prosecution  of 
his  missionary  work  in  upper  Asia,  a  Jew  named  Apollos, 
from  Alexandria,  that  celebrated  city  where  the  three  great 
streams  of  influence — the  Oriental,  the  Jev/ish,  and  the  Gre- 
cian— came  together  and  produced  such  important  results 
for  good  and  evil,  not  upon  the  world  alone,  but  also  on  the 
Christian  Church.  It  was  the  home  of  Philo,  the  Jewish 
teacher,  whose  allegorical  interpretation  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment has  in  it  so  much  in  common  with  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  and  whose  doctrine  of  the  Logos,  though  essen- 
tially different  from  that  of  the  fourth  evangelist,  has  not 
a  little  that  is  apparently  in  affinity  with  it.f     We  cannot 


*  Gal.  i.,9  ;  iv.,  16. 

t  See  on  this  whole  subject  "  History  of  the  Apostolic  Church,"  by 
Philip  Schaff,D.D.,  LL.D.,pp.  178-182. 


302  Paul  the  Missionary. 

doubt,  therefore,  that  Apollos  must  have  come  in  some  de- 
gree under  the  fascination  which  this  mixture  of  Greek  Pla- 
tonism  with  Jewish  mysticism  had  for  so  many  minds ;  but 
he  appears  to  have  been  a  genuine  truth-seeker,  eager  to 
welcome  everything  that  came  to  him  duly  authenticated, 
and  therefore,  having  heard  of  John  the  Baptist  and  his 
proclamation  of  the  coming  Messiah,  and  having  been  con- 
vinced of  the  divinity  of  his  commission,  he  had  not  hesi- 
tated to  enroll  himself  among  his  followers ;  but  he  had 
apparently  not  yet  heard  of  the  Christ  as  already  come. 
Still,  with  the  zeal  of  one  who  feels  that  he  has  something 
to  communicate,  he  taught  boldly  in  the  synagogue  all  the 
things  of  the  Lord  which  he  knew,  and  there  he  was  heard 
by  Aquila  and  Priscilla.  They  saw  at  once  the  hopefulness 
of  his  position,  and  with  great  wisdom  they  took  him  to 
their  home  and  privately  "expounded  to  him  the  way  of 
God  more  perfectly."  Had  they  openly  controverted  him, 
or  in  any  way  seemed  to  put  him  on  his  defence,  the  result 
might  have  been  disastrous ;  but,  as  it  was,  the  effect  was 
most  satisfactory,  for  he  became  a  Christian ;  and  when  he 
wished  to  go  to  Corinth,  the  disciples  at  Ephesus  gave  him 
letters  of  commendation  to  the  brethren  of  that  city.  There 
he  was  blessed  to  the  strengthening  of  the  disciples,  and  the 
conviction  and  conversion  of  many  Jews.  He  was  thus  a 
most  successful  waterer  of  the  field  which  Paul  had  planted. 
It  is  true,  indeed,  that  his  winning  eloquence  and  perhaps 
also  his  peculiar  manner  of  presenting  the  Gospel,  which 
could  not  fail  to  have  in  it  some  trace  of  his  early  training, 
disposed  a  party  in  the  church  at  Corinth  to  call  them- 
selves by  his  name,  and  repudiate  the  authority  of  Paul ;  but 
such  a  movement  had  no  encouragement  from  him,  for  Paul 
speaks  of  him  always  as  a  beloved  colleague,  and  had  so 
much  confidence  in  him  as  to  urge  him  to  return  to  Corinth, 
even  after  the  beginning  of  the  divisions  there.     On  the 


Ephesus.  303 

other  hand  —  not  to  be  outdone  m  the  spirit  of  brother- 
hood— Apollos  would  not  consent  to  go,  lest  his  presence 
might  be  the  occasion  of  stirring  up  new  strife.  His  name 
is  mentioned  only  once  in  the  New  Testament  apart  from 
his  connection  with  Corinth  and  Aquila,  so  that  we  know 
nothing  whatever  with  certainty  of  his  after-history.  Many, 
following  Luther,  have  conjectured  that  he  was  the  author 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews ;  but  if  the  Pauline  author- 
ship of  that  treatise  is  to  be  given  up — which  I  for  one  am 
not  yet  disposed  to  admit — it  would  seem  to  me  that  a  much 
stronger  case  could  be  made  out  for  Luke  than  for  Apollos. 
But  however  Apollos  was  engaged,  we  may  be  sure,  from  the 
few  glimpses  we  have  had  of  him  at  Ephesus  and  Corinth, 
that  he  was  indefatigable  and  persistent  in  the  Redeemer's 
cause. 

Returning  now  to  Paul,  we  find  him,  after  his  visit  to  Ga- 
latia  and  Phrygia,  taking  up  his  abode  at  Ephesus.  That 
city  was  at  this  time  the  capital  of  the  Roman  province  of 
Asia,  and  the  seat  of  the  proconsular  government.  One  of 
the  chief  commercial  centres  of  Asia  Minor,  it  stood  upon 
the  south  of  a  plain  whose  extent  was  five  miles  from  east 
to  west  by  three  from  north  to  south,  and  through  which 
the  river  Cayster  ran  almost  diagonally  from  the  north-east 
to  the  south-west.  This  plain,  open  to  the  sea  on  its  west- 
ern side,  was  hemmed  in  on  every  other  by  precipitous 
mountains.  As  the  voyager  sailed  up  the  river  from  the 
Mediterranean,  he  entered  at  length  a  spacious  natural  ba- 
sin, which  stretched  av/ay  toward  the  right,  and  formed  a 
magnificent  harbor.  This  was  called  the  Panormus,  and 
was  the  great  source  of  the  city's  prosperity ;  for  commerce 
of  all  kinds  was  attracted  to  its  waters,  and  men  of  all  na- 
tionalities met  in  its  stirring  streets.  The  city  itself  had 
been  founded  originally  by  a  colony  of  Greeks ;  but  the  in- 
habitants had  become  to  a  large  extent  Orientalized  both 


304  Paul  the  Missionary. 

in  habits  and  religion.  The  great  object  of  worship  among 
them  was  the  goddess  Diana,  whose  magnificent  temple  was 
justly  accounted  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world."*  But 
though  called  by  a  Greek  name,  we  must  not  confound  this 
Diana  with  "  the  huntress  chaste  and  fair  "  of  classic  poetry. 
The  idol  which  was  enshrined  in  the  midst  of  such  grandeur 
was  an  ugly  figure,  resembling  some  of  those  found  in  our 
own  days  in  India.  It  had  a  striking  likeness  in  outline  to 
an  Egyptian  mummy ;  but  as,  according  to  the  popular  le- 
gend, it  had  fallen  just  as  it  was  from  heaven,  it  was  an  ob- 
ject of  the  greatest  veneration.  It  was  evidently  designed 
at  first  as  a  symbol  of  the  productive  powers  of  nature, 
and  was  more  nearly  allied  to  the  Oriental  Astarte  than  to 
the  Grecian  Artemis.  All  that  now  remains  of  the  temple 
are  the  arches  on  which  the  raised  platform  on  which  it 
stood  was  reared  ;  but  it  is  said  that  eight  of  the  pillars 
may  still  be  seen  in  the  Mosque  of  St.  Sophia  at  Constan- 
tinople. 

So  complete  is  now  the  desolation  of  the  city,  that  no  hu- 
man being  lives  within  the  circle  of  the  ancient  walls.  The 
basin  which  formed  the  harbor  has  become  a  pestilential 
marsh;  and  though  the  remains  of  some  of  its  ancient  splen- 
dor have  been  brought  to  light  by  Mr.  Wood  in  his  recent 
excavations,  there  is  nothing  now  save  the  bleating  of  the 
goat  or  the  croak  of  the  raven  to  break  the  awesome  silence 
of  the  place  which  once  resounded  with  the  frantic  shout: 
"  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians." 

It  is  probable  that  here  again  Paul  took  up  his  abode 
with  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  for  they  are  mentioned  as  saluting 

*  It  was  a  perfect  specimen  of  the  Ionic  style,  and  had  the  following 
proportions  :  length,  425  feet ;  breadth,  220  feet ;  columns,  120,  of  which 
seven  were  the  gifts  of  kings.  It  replaced  that  which  was  set  on  fire  by 
Herostratus  on  the  night  on  which  Alexander  the  Great  was  born ;  and 
220  years  were  occupied  in  its  erection. 


EPHESUS   FROM   THE   THEATRE. 


Ephesus.  305 

the  Corinthians  in  the  first  epistle,  which  is  commonly  be- 
lieved to  have  been  written  from  this  place.  We  may,  there- 
fore, conclude  that  he  wrought  with  them  at  his  trade,  for 
here  too  his  hands  ministered  to  his  necessities. 

On  his  first  arrival,  he  came  into  contact  with  certain  per- 
sons whose  peculiar  stage  of  attainment  in  knowledge  and 
experience  it  is  difficult  exactly  to  define.  They  are  called 
"  disciples,"  and  are  said  to  have  "  believed."  They  were 
thus  Christians,  and  farther  advanced  than  Apollos  was 
when  he  was  found  by  Aquila,  for  they  believed  Jesus  to 
be  the  Messiah.  But  when  they  were  asked  whether  they 
had  received  the  Holy  Ghost,  they  replied  that  they  did  not 
know  whether  or  not  the  Holy  Ghost  had  been  yet  given ; 
and  to  the  inquiry,  "Unto  what  then  were  ye  baptized  ?"  they 
answered,  "  Unto  John's  baptism."  They  were  thus  in  the 
position  in  which  a  believing  disciple  of  Jesus  would  have 
been  if  he  had  never  heard  of  the  events  of  the  Day  of  Pen- 
tecost, or  come  into  contact  with  one  who  could  bestow  upon 
him  the  gift  of  the  Spirit.  But  as  the  baptism  of  John  was 
quite  different  in  many  respects  from  Christian  baptism,  and 
was  in  the  main  connected  with  faith  in  the  Messiah  who 
was  to  come,  Paul  gave  them  such  instruction  as  led  them 
to  see  it  to  be  their  duty  to  be  baptized  into  the  name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  ;  and  in  connection  with  the  administration 
of  that  ordinance  he  laid  his  hands  upon  them  and  impart- 
ed to  them  the  Holy  Ghost,  so  that  they  spoke  with  tongues 
and  prophesied.  This  was,  as  it  were,  a  supplementary  Pen- 
tecost—  a  bestowment  on  these  twelve  disciples  of  those 
gifts  which  the  ascended  Christ  sent  down  on  the  hundred 
and  twenty  in  the  upper  room — and  so  a  lifting  of  them  up 
to  the  level  of  those  who  had  already  been  endowed  with 
"  power  from  on  high." 

The  whole  story  of  these  Johannine  Christians,  as  we  may 
call  them,  is  involved  in  obscurity.      We  cannot  tell  how 


3o6  Paul  the  Missionary. 

they  came  to  know  so  much  without  knowing  more.  We 
have  no  information  as  to  the  circumstances  which  led  to 
their  being  at  Ephesus  at  this  particular  time,  and  we  do  not 
hear  a  word  of  them  in  after-days ;  but  the  record  is  useful 
as  establishing  a  clear  distinction  between  John's  baptism 
and  that  of  Christ,  and  between  baptism  with  water  and 
the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  while  it  illustrates  the 
truth  that  those  who  are  walking  up  to  the  light  they  have 
are  alv/ays  the  most  ready  to  welcome  more  light  when  it 
appears. 

According  to  his  invariable  habit,  Paul  went  first  to  the 
Jews  in  Ephesus.  On  his  former  hurried  visit,  he  had 
awakened  their  interest  greatly  in  the  matters  which  he  sub- 
mitted to  them,  and  we  may  believe  that  at  first  they  were 
eager  to  hear  his  discourses.  Thus  encouraged,  he  labored 
among  them  exclusively  for  three  months  ;  but  at  the  end 
of  that  time,  when  those  who  had  resisted  his  appeals  began 
to  be  hardened  and  to  blaspheme  the  Gospel,  he  withdrew 
from  the  synagogue,  and  began  to  teach  daily  in  the  school 
of  one  Tyrannus.  We  know  neither  who  this  man  was 
nor  what  was  the  nature  of  the  philosophy  which  he  taught. 
We  cannot  tell  either  how  he  came  to  give  the  apostle  the 
use  of  his  premises.  Perhaps  he  had  himself  become  a  dis- 
ciple ;  or  he  may  have  been  prevailed  on  by  some  friend  who 
was  a  disciple  to  show  this  courtesy  to  Paul ;  or  he  may  sim- 
ply have  hired  his  hall  to  the  apostle  during  the  hours  when 
it  was  not  needed  by  himself. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  here  for  a  part  of  every  day 
— unless  when  he  was  absent  from  the  city  —  the  apostle 
taught  for  two  years ;  and  we  may  have  some  idea  of  the 
ardor  of  his  devotion  to  his  work  when  we  remember  that 
he  was  also  supporting  himself  by  his  handicraft,  and  that 
very  often  his  pastoral  labors  extended  far  into  the  night ; 
for  he  could  say  that  he  "  ceased  not  to  warn  every  one 


Ephesus.  307 

night  and  day  with  tears."*  Nor  must  we  imagine  that  the 
sphere  of  his  influence  was  bounded  by  the  city  walls.  Dur- 
ing these  years  the  greater  number  of  the  seven  churches, 
to  whom  through  the  Patmos  prophet  those  celestial  epistles 
were  sent  by  the  ascended  Christ,  were  founded  either  by 
the  personal  labors  of  Paul  or  by  the  efforts  of  those  whom 
he  had  been  instrumental  in  converting.  Unnoticed  by  the 
wealthy  merchants  of  the  city;  unhonored  by  the  learned 
among  its  citizens ;  sneered  at,  perhaps,  by  the  haughty 
priests  of  the  adjacent  temple,  our  apostle  commenced  and 
carried  on  his  work.  It  was  the  day  of  small  things  ;  but 
he  held  resolutely  on.  He  did  not  care  to  be  seen  :  he 
did  not  work  for  show.  He  was  a  great  moral  and  spiritual 
sapper;  and  every  day  he  taught  he  was, by  the  presentation 
of  positive  truth,  undermining  the  foundations  of  idolatry, 
superstition,  and  iniquity.  Nothing  so  excites  our  admiration 
about  him  as  this  quiet,  humble,  yet  indomitable  pertinacity. 
Nothing  seems  to  put  him  out.  Nothing  elates  him.  But 
he  keeps  on  working  until  both  Asia  and  Europe  come  un- 
der the  sweep  of  the  influence  of  the  Gospel. 

In  Ephesus  he  was  especially  blessed  with  the  power  of 
working  miracles.  I  have,  on  former  occasions,  observed 
that  this  "gift"  was  not  one  which  the  apostles  had  under 
their  own  absolute  control ;  but  that  only  when  by  the  di- 
rection of  the  Holy  Ghost  they  were  prompted  to  exercise 
it,  were  they  warranted  in  seeking  to  perform  a  supernatural 
work.f  Wherever,  therefore,  they  wrought  miracles,  we  may 
conclude  that  some  special  object  was  to  be  secured  by  such 
a  manifestation  of  the  divine  power.  Now  in  the  case  be- 
fore us  we  may  find,  in  the  superstition  prevalent  in  Ephesus 
at  this  time,  a  particular  reason,  not  only  for  the  working  of 
miracles  by  Paul  but  also  for  the  very  unusual  form  which 

*  Acts  XX.,  31.  t  See  ante,  pp.  99-101, 132. 


3o8  Paul  the  Missionary. 

these  miracles  assumed.  The  historian  tells  us  that  from 
Paul's  "  body  were  brought  unto  the  sick  handkerchiefs  or 
aprons,  and  the  diseases  departed  from  them,  and  the  evil 
spirits  went  out  of  them."  We  need  not  wonder  at  miracles 
being  performed  through  such  means  as  handkerchiefs  or 
aprons,  for  the  power  that  works  a  miracle  is  always  that  of 
God,  and  it  is  all  the  same  to  him  whether  he  puts  it  forth 
in  connection  with  the  word  or  touch  of  an  apostle,  or  in 
connection  with  the  passing  of  his  shadow  as  in  the  case  of 
Peter,  or  with  articles  of  dress  as  here,  or  with  the  touching 
of  the  garment  as  sometimes  in  the  history  of  Jesus  him- 
self. What  is  more  to  the  purpose  here,  is  to  observe  the 
rebuke  which  was  addressed  to  Ephesian  idolatry  and  super- 
stition by  the  doing  of  such  wonders.  In  no  city  then  on 
the  surface  of  the  earth  was  sorcery  so  much  practised  as  in 
Ephesus.  The  worship  of  Diana  and  the  pursuit  of  magic 
were  closely,  almost  indissolubly,  associated.  Mysterious 
symbols,  called  *'  Ephesian  letters,"  were  said  to  be  en- 
graved on  the  crown  and  girdle  and  feet  of  the  image  of 
the  goddess.  These  letters,  of  which  a  specimen  has  been 
given  by  Lewin*  and  repeated  by  Kitto,t  were  not  unlike 
the  gibberish  indulged  in  by  modern  professed  conjurers. 
When  pronounced,  they  were  regarded  as  a  charm,  and 
were  to  be  used  by  those  who  were  under  the  power  of  evil 
spirits ;  when  written,  they  were  carried  about  as  amulets. 
Howson  mentions  some  curious  stories  regarding  them;  in 
particular,  that  Croesus  repeated  the  mystic  syllables  on  his 
funeral  pile,  and  that  an  Ephesian  wrestler  is  said  to  have 
always  thrown  his  antagonist  until  he  lost  the  scroll  which 
had  been  before  like  a  talisman.  1:     Now  from  these  state- 


*  Lewin,  vol.  i.,  p.  334. 

t  Kitto's  "  Daily  Bible  Illustrations,"  vol.  viii.,  p.  443. 

t  Conybeare  and  Howson,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  13,  14. 


Ephesus.  "  309 

ments  we  can  see  how  it  was  that  the  miracles  of  Paul  here 
took  the  shape  which  they  assumed.  As  Moses  did  with 
the  magicians  of  Egypt,  he  contended  with  the  sorcerers  on 
their  own  domain,  in  order  that  in  the  end  it  might  be  shown 
to  all  that  they  were  impostors,  and  he  the  servant  of  the 
living  and  true  God.  They  professed  to  do  certain  things 
through  their  charms ;  but  wherever  they  were  successful, 
their  success  was  due  not  to  the  charm,  but  to  their  knowl- 
edge of  occult  science  and  their  practice  of  sleight-of-hand. 
But  greater  things  than  they  attempted  were  done  through 
the  instrumentality  of  handkerchiefs  and  aprons  that  had 
touched  the  body  of  Paul.  This  arrested  the  attention  of 
the  sorcerers.  They  thought  at  first  that  he  was  simply  a 
brother  of  their  own  craft ;  and  so  Sceva,  a  Jewish  exorcist, 
and  his  seven  sons,  conceiving  the  name  of  Jesus  to  be  a 
spell  like  that  used  by  themselves,  tried  it  on  an  evil  spirit 
with  the  words, "  We  adjure  you  by  Jesus  whom  Paul  preach- 
eth ;"  but  the  possessed  man  leaped  upon  them  and  assault- 
ed them,  so  that  they  fled  naked  and  terrified.  Thus  the 
contrast  between  them  and  Paul  was  clearly  brought  out, 
and  the  magicians  themselves  were  constrained  to  acknowl- 
edge that  the  power  accompanying  him  was  divine.  Con- 
sternation and  alarm  filled  them  all ;  and  such  was  the  ef- 
feet  that  those  even  among  the  believers  in  Christ  who  had 
been  secretly  indulging  in  magic  came  and  confessed  their 
evil-doings,  and  many  of  those  who  were  sorcerers  by  pro- 
fession brought  their  books  on  curious  arts,  which  were 
both  expensive  and  magnificent,  and  burnt  them  before  the 
people.  Nor  was  this  an  offering  that  cost  them  nothing; 
for  when  they  reckoned  the  price  of  them,  they  found  it 
equal  to  about  ten  thousand  dollars  of  our  money.  "  So," 
adds  the  historian,  "  mightily  grew  the  word  of  God  and 
prevailed." 

The  narrative  over  which  we  have  come  this  evening  is 


3IO  Paul  the  Missionary. 

rich  in  practical  suggestiveness  ;  but  I  restrict  myself  to  one 
phase  of  its  instruction.  It  brings  before  us  four  distinct 
classes  of  Gospel  hearers,  and  shows  us  that  the  effects  pro- 
duced on  each  were  determined  by  the  disposition  which 
they  manifested. 

We  have  first  the  case  of  partially  instructed  disciples,  who 
eagerly  welcomed  greater  light  and  were  rewarded  by  a  spe- 
cial benediction.  Neither  Apollos  nor  these  Johannine  dis- 
ciples remained  contentedly  where  they  were  when  they  had 
heard  only  the  baptism  of  John.  But  when  the  former  was 
informed  of  the  real  state  of  the  case  by  Aquila,  and  the 
latter  were  enlightened  by  Paul,  they  gladly  received  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and  were  baptized  not  only  with  water 
but  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  Now,  this  readiness  to  accept 
new  light  ought  to  be  cultivated  by  every  student  of  the 
Scriptures.  Whatever  is  brought  out  of  these  oracles  by 
fair  interpretation,  or  deduced  from  them  by  legitimate  in- 
ference, we  ought  to  receive  and  hold  equally  with  that 
which  we  have  already  derived  from  them.  It  is  often  said, 
indeed,  that  theology  is  a  finished  science,  and  that  no  prog- 
ress in  it  is  now  possible ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  those 
who  hold  that  opinion  confound  the  source  of  theology  with 
that  which  men  have  drawn  from  it.  The  Scriptures  are 
complete.  We  are  not  to  expect  any  addition  to  them  ;  and 
if  one  came  to  us  claiming  to  speak  with  the  authority  of 
inspiration,  we  should  refuse  to  listen  to  him.  We  cannot 
look  for  additions  to  the  sacred  volume ;  but  is  it  not  right, 
and  ought  we  not  to  look  for  an  increase  in  our  understand- 
ing of  its  meaning  ?  Is  not  theology,  in  this  sense,  just  as 
progressive  as  any  other  of  the  sciences .''  The  stars  have 
been  in  the  sky  from  the  day  when  first  before  the  view  of 
Adam, 

*'  Bathed  in  the  rays  of  the  great  setting  flame, 
Hesperus  and  the  hosts  of  heaven  came." 


Ephesus.  ■  311 

But  what  progress  has  been  made  since  then  in  astronomy  ? 
So,  again,  the  rocks  beneath  us  have  been  just  as  they  are 
now  for  many  millenniums,  yet  what  advancement  have  these 
last  years  seen  among  us  in  the  science  of  geology  ?  And 
in  the  same  way,  though  the  Bible  is  complete,  and  has  been 
so  for  many  centuries,  may  we  not  hope  that  the  diligent  stu- 
dent may  still  find  something  more  in  it  than  those  who  went 
before  him  have  discovered  ?  For  there  is  sometimes  an  in- 
terpretation given  by  the  very  character  of  an  age  which  nat- 
urally escaped  those  who  lived  before  that  age  began;  and 
the  simultaneousness  with  which  in  many  lands  the  doctrines 
of  the  Reformation  flashed  upon  the  minds  of  independent 
inquirers,  analogous  as  it  is  to  the  fact  that  in  physical  sci- 
ence the  same  discoveries  have  been  made  by  individuals  in 
different  countries  almost  at  the  same  time,  may  help  us  to 
understand  how  new  truths  in  theology  may  yet  be  found 
even  in  the  already  well-searched  field  of  the  sacred  Script- 
ures. The  pastor  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  showed  the  spirit 
of  a  true  Christian  philosopher  when  he  expressed  his  con- 
viction that  God  "  had  yet  more  light  to  break  forth  out  of 
his  Word ;"  and  though  his  words  have  been  used  by  many 
when  they  advocated  opinions  for  which  I  at  least  can  find 
no  foundation  in  the  Bible,  yet  that  must  not  keep  me  from 
acknowledging  the  soundness  of  the  principle  which  they 
embody.  We  ought  to  be  ready  to  welcome  everything,  even 
if  it  be  a  new  thing,  that  is  brought  fairly  out  of  this  book. 
Let  us  not  cry  for  novelty  for  its  own  sake ;  neither  let  us 
resist  the  new,  simply  because  it  is  new.  But  if  anything 
different  from  or  in  addition  to  our  present  interpretation 
of  the  Scriptures  should  be  put  before  us,  let  us  examine 
it  candidl}^,  and  if  it  commend  itself  to  us  as  revealed  in  the 
Bible  or  consistent  with  it,  let  us  heartily  accept  it.  None 
of  us  knows  so  much  but  that  he  may  yet  have  the  way 
of  God  more  perfectly  expounded  to  him  ;  and  true  rever- 

14 


312  Paul  the  Missionary. 

ence  for  the  Bible  will  teach  us  all  to  seek  to  learn  more 
from  it. 

But  in  the  case  of  the  Ephesian  Jews  v/e  have  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  blinding  influence  of  prejudice  in  the  hearing 
of  the  truth.  They  were  at  first  very  willing  to  listen  to 
Paul ;  but  as  he  went  on  with  his  expositions  of  their  sa- 
cred books,  so  as  to  show  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  the 
promised  INIessiah,  and  that  the  blessings  of  salvation 
through  him  were  not  to  be  restricted  to  any  nation,  they 
were  hardened,  and  believed  not.  Therefore  he  departed 
from  them,  and  left  them  to  their  bigotry  and  intolerance. 
In  the  Johannine  disciples  w^e  have  an  illustration  of  the 
law,  "  To  him  that  hath  shall  more  be  given ;"  but  in  these 
Jews  we  see  fulfilled  the  w^ords,  "  From  him  that  hath  not 
shall  be  taken  even  that  he  hath."  They  who  stubbornly 
refuse  the  salvation  of  Christ  are  in  danger  of  being  them- 
selves put  beyond  the  possibility  of  being  saved  by  Christ. 
It  is  an  awful  thought,  on  v/hich  the  preacher  never  delights 
to  dwell ;  but  it  needs  to  be  proclaimed,  lest  haply  some 
one  who  is  in  fearful  danger  may  go  unwarned.  Remember 
what  is  said  of  the  barren  fig-tree  in  the  parable.  It  w^as 
placed  in  circumstances  favorable  for  the  bringing  forth  of 
fruit.  Everything  was  done  for  it  that  could  be  done,  and 
yet  no  fruit  appeared,  so  that  the  command  went  forth, 
"  Cut  it  down  ;  why  cumbereth  it  the  ground  ?"  For  a  time 
the  execution  of  that  order  was  delayed  at  the  vine-dresser's 
intercession,  but  at  length  the  axe-stroke  fell ;  and  now^,  as 
one  looks  at  Jerusalem,  he  sees  but  a  poor  blackened  root, 
where  once  a  stately  tree  covered  the  land  with  its  shadow. 
My  hearer,  who  despisest  the  mercy  of  the  Lord,  and  reject- 
est  the  Saviour  whom  he  reveals,  take  v/arning  from  such  a 
case.  As  the  good  Leighton  has  it,  "  God  may  be  taking  his 
axe,  as  it  were,  and  fetching  his  stroke  at  you,  and  you  knov/ 
not  how  soon  it  may  light,  and  you  be  cut  down,  and  cut 


Ephesus.  313 

off  from  all  hopes  forever,  never  to  see  a  day  of  grace  more, 
nor  to  hear  a  sermon  more  ;  cut  down  and  cast  into  the  fire 
to  burn,  and  that  never  to  end.  Oh,  for  some  soul  to  be 
rescued,  were  it  even  now  !  Oh,  to-day  !  'To-day  if  ye  will 
hear  his  voice,  harden  not  your  hearts.'  "* 

In  those  vagabond  exorcists  who  sought  to  turn  to  ac- 
count, as  a  w^orldly  speculation,  the  little  knowledge  of  the 
Gospel  which  they  had,  we  have  another  kind  of  hearers. 
They  saw  Paul  casting  out  evil  spirits,  and  immediately, 
after  the  fashion  of  Simon  Magus  with  Peter,  they  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  if  they  could  add  the  apostle's  gift  to 
their  magical  mummeries  they  would  increase  their  gains. 
But  the  result  only  covered  them  with  confusion.  So  have 
we  seen  it  again  and  again  in  human  history.  When  the 
Church  wandered  from  the  faith,  and  they  who  should  have 
been  its  ornaments  and  defenders  used  their  exalted  posi- 
tion for  purposes  of  personal  aggrandizement,  selling  par- 
dons for  gold,  and  hawking  indulgences  through  the  streets, 
see  how  this  incident  repeated  itself  in  a  new  form,  and  the 
people  rose  against  their  religious  rulers  much  as  this  poor 
possessed  one  leaped  on  Sceva  and  his  sons  !  This  will 
always  be  the  case,  sooner  or  later,  when  the  Church  seeks 
to  make  gain  for  individuals  out  of  the  gifts  which  she  has 
freely  received  from  the  Lord.  For  this  is  the  law :  "  Freely 
ye  have  received,  freely  give ;"  and  when  the  privileges  of 
God's  house  are  sold  for  gold,  we  may  look  ere  long  for  ter- 
rible disaster. 

But  it  is  equally  bad  when  men  come  to  hear  the  Gospel 
just  to  see  how  much  money  they  can  make  out  of  it.  When, 
for  example,  they  attend  upon  ordinances  in  a  certain  place 
solely  because  it  will  add  to  their  position  in  society,  or  give 
them  respectability  in  the  neighborhood,  or  improve  their 

*  "  Works  of  Robert  Leighton,  D.D.,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,"  p.  547. 


314  Paul  the  Missionary. 

business  connection.  All  that  is  simony  as  really  as  is  the 
selling  of  the  cure  of  souls  for  gold ;  and  in  the  day  when 
the  Lord  comes  to  his  temple,  he  will  drive  out  all  who  are 
guilty  of  it  with  a  scourge  of  cords.  Avaunt,  therefore,  all 
ye  who  would  make  a  gain  of  godliness  !  your  hollow  nam- 
ing of  "Jesus  whom  Paul  preacheth"  is  an  offence  unto 
God ;  and  even  as  you  repeat  the  words  there  comes  this 
voice  from  the  very  devil  whom  you  serve,  as  if  he  were  him- 
self ashamed  of  you  :  "Jesus  I  know,  and  Paul  I  know,  but 
who  are  you  ?"  Ah !  is  it  not  because  so  many  to-day  are 
trying  to  cast  out  devils  for  their  own  gain  that  they  fail  so 
egregiously  in  their  efforts.?  The  evils  of  our  times  will 
not  recede  before  your  Sceva  mammon- worshippers  and 
their  like-minded  sons;  but  only  before  the  Pauls  whose 
hands  are  clean,  whose  hearts  are  pure,  and  whose  weapons 
are  spiritual,  and  therefore  mighty.  It  is  not  by  a  cabalis- 
tic name  that  we  are  to  exorcise  the  evils  of  our  times  ;  but 
by  holy  characters  moulded  after  the  image  of  Christ,  and 
animated  by  his  Spirit. 

Finally,  we  have  in  the  Ephesian  magicians  an  illustration 
of  earnest,  believing,  and  sincere  hearing  of  the  Gospel.  I 
like  to  read  about  these  men.  They  heard ;  they  believed  ; 
they  confessed ;  they  repented.  And  their  repentance  was 
not  of  that  cheap  sort  that  spends  itself  only  in  tears.  It 
was  like  that  of  the  woman  who,  when  she  had  heard  a  ser- 
mon on  false  measures,  went  straight  home  and  burnt  the 
bushel !  These  men  did  not  care  what  it  cost  them.  They 
were  determined  to  be  done  with  their  evil  calling,  and  they 
destroyed  everything  that  might  tempt  them  back  to  it  again. 
They  not  only  crossed  the  river,  but  they  burnt  the  boats 
behind  them,  and  so  made  their  return  impossible.  They 
did  not  stand  debating  what  shall  we  do  ?  They  did  not 
say,  Let  us  wait  and  see  whether  God  will  open  up  an  honest 
way  of  life  for  us.     They  did  not  try  to  sell  to  others  that 


Ephesus.  315 

which  they  felt  it  was  wrong  for  them  to  keep  ;  but  they 
utterly  destroyed  their  books,  and  left  God  to  take  care  of 
themselves.  Now,  my  hearer,  have  you  nothing  to  burn  ? 
There  comes  to  my  memory  now  a  story,  very  graphic  and 
characteristic,  told  by  Mr.  Arthur  in  his  memoir  of  "  Samuel 
Budgett,  the  Successful  Merchant."  Like  other  grocers  of 
his  time  and  neighborhood,  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  adul- 
terating his  pepper  by  some  sort  of  preparation — innocent 
enough,  but  not  pepper,  and  not  so  valuable  as  pepper — 
which  he  kept  in  a  little  barrel  labelled  P.  D. — pepper  dust. 
But  as  he  grew  in  Christian  intelligence  his  conscience 
troubled  him  about  this  matter.  It  haunted  him  day  and 
night,  until  one  night  he  rose  from  his  bed,  went  to  his  store, 
took  the  little  barrel  with  him  out  to  an  old  quarry,  and 
there  knocked  in  the  ends  of  it  and  left  it.  In  the  morn- 
ing, thinking  he  had  been  just  a  little  wasteful,  he  went  back, 
picked  up  the  staves,  and  carried  them  away  for  other  use ; 
but  that  was  the  last  of  P.  D.  for  him.  Is  there  no  P.  D. 
about  you  ?  Nothing  of  which  your  conscience  accuses  you 
as  inconsistent  with  loyalty  to  Christ .?  If  there  be,  take  it 
out  as  Budgett  did,  and  knock  it  on  the  head.  Bring  it  forth 
as  these  Ephesians  did,  and  burn  it  before  the  Lord.  Never 
mind  the  cost.  That  is  nothing  to  your  peace,  your  purity, 
your  salvation.  Therefore  burn  it ;  and  then  in  your  heart 
and  in  your  home  the  word  of  God  will  grow  mightily  and 
prevail. 


XVII. 

THE  UPROAR  AT  EPHESUS. 

Acts  xix.,  21-41. 

DURING  Paul's  sojourn  at  Ephesus  he  made  many 
new  friends,  and  received  visits  from  some  old  ones. 
Here  first  he  became  acquainted  with  Onesiphorus,  of  whose 
kindness,  both  now  and  during  his  last  imprisonment  at 
Rome,  he  makes  such  grateful  mention  to  Timothy,  and  for 
whom  he  offers  the  brief  but  comprehensive  prayer,  "  The 
Lord  grant  that  he  may  obtain  mercy  of  the  Lord  in  that 
day."*  Here,  too,  it  is  probable  that  he  became  instru- 
mental in  the  conversion  of  Philemon  and  Epaphras,  both 
of  whom  belonged  to  the  neighboring  city  of  Colosse.  It  is 
certain,  also,  that  he  wrote  here  his  first  Epistle  to  the  Co- 
rinthians. Alford,  on  what  seem  to  me,  however,  to  be  too 
slender  grounds,  has  affirmed  that  some  time  during  his  three 
years  and  six  months'  residence  at  Ephesus,  Paul  made  a 
hasty  visit  to  Corinth,  of  which  nothing  is  said  in  the  Book 
of  The  Acts ;  but  in  any  case  it  is  clear  that  his  first  epis- 
tle to  the  church  there  was  called  forth  by  the  arrival  at 
Ephesus  of  Stephanas,  Fortunatus,  Achaicus,  and  certain  of 
the  household  of  Chloe,  who  brought  with  them  a  sad  report 
of  divisions  and  abuses  in  the  infant  society,  and  asked  his 
advice  on  sundry  matters  of  practical  difficulty.  In  his  let- 
ter he  deals  very  plainly  and  powerfully  with  all  the  ques- 
tions which  had  been  submitted  to  him.     He  reproves  the 

*  2  Tim.  i.,  18. 


The  Uproar  at  Ephesus.  317 

Corinthians  sternly  for  their  partisanship  for  different  preach- 
ers ;  shows  then?  the  inconsistency  of  the  gross  immorality 
which  had  been  permitted  among  them ;  condemns  them  for 
going  to  law  with  brethren  before  heathen  magistrates ;  gives 
them  directions  as  to  their  intercourse  with  their  unconvert- 
ed neighbors ;  rebukes  them  for  their  irreverence  at  the 
Lord's  table,  and  the  confusion  which  characterized  their 
public  services;  bids  them  above  all  other  things  cultivate 
love ;  exposes  the  hollowness  of  the  argument  of  those  who 
alleged  that  the  resurrection  was  past  already ;  and  exhorts 
them  to  systematic  benevolence,  so  that  he  might  receive 
from  them  a  handsome  collection  for  the  poor  saints  at  Je- 
rusalem. It  is  truly  a  glorious  epistle,  standing  before  us 
in  its  mingled  majesty  and  simplicity,  like  some  Alpine 
range  whose  peaks  seem  to  pierce  the  sky,  while  round  its 
base  the  pine-forest  waves  in  the  breeze,  and  the  wild  flow- 
ers exhale  their  fragrance.  There  is  the  rugged  sternness 
of  reproof,  shaded  and  softened  by  the  verdure  of  affection. 
Broad  and  stable  as  the  foundations  of  the  everlasting  hills 
are  the  principles  on  which  his  practical  exhortations  are 
based  ;  and  now  and  again,  as  when  he  speaks  as  if  even  he 
himself  might  be  a  castaway,  he  seems  to  put  us  on  the  edge 
of  a  fearful  precipice,  over  which  we  gaze,  as  it  were,  into  a 
bottomless  ab3^ss ;  while  his  hymn  on  charity  and  his  ar- 
gument on  the  resurrection  are  like  great  sunlit  pinnacles 
rising  up  in  purity  and  repose,  and  seeming  to  belong  more 
to  heaven  than  earth. 

After  he  had  written  that  letter  he  was  most  anxious  to 
know  the  effect  which  it  had  produced  on  those  for  whom 
it  was  intended ;  and  so  he  was  very  desirous  to  revisit 
Corinth.  This  is  the  point  at  v/hich  vve  resume  the  narra- 
tive to-night.     We  read,*  "  After  these  things  were  ended, 

*  Acts  xix.,  21. 


3i8  Paul  the  Missionarv. 

Paul  purposed  in  the  spirit,  when  he  had  passed  through 
Macedonia  and  Achaia,  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  saying,  After  1 
have  been  there,  I  must  also  see  Rome,"  His  desire  to  go 
into  Achaia  was  prompted  by  his  solicitude  for  the  Corin- 
thians j  his  motive  for  visiting  Jerusalem  was  that  he  might 
carry  thither  the  offerings  of  the  Gentile  Christians  for  the 
relief  of  their  Jewish  brethren ;  and  his  wish  to  see  Rome 
was  not  out  of  mere  curiosity,  but  was  in  perfect  harmony 
with  the  great  principle  which  he  had  followed  in  his  mis- 
sionary work.  Already  from  the  three  great  centres,  An- 
tioch,  Corinth,  and  Ephesus,  he  had  sought  to  work  upon 
the  Greek-speaking  portion  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  it 
was  natural  that  he  should  now  long  to  commence  in  Rome 
itself,  operations  whose  influence  might  ultimately  radiate 
out  into  those  western  regions  where  the  Latin  language 
was  spoken.  Twice  in  his  letter  to  the  Romans  has  Paul 
referred  to  this  deeply-cherished  purpose ;  and  that  in  such 
a  way  as  to  prove  that,  while  the  history  in  The  Acts  and 
the  statements  in  the  letter  must  have  been  written  inde- 
pendently of  each  other,  they  are  yet  in  perfect  harmony. 
Let  me  read  both  passages  to  you,  and  then  give  you  the 
substance  of  Paley's  comment  on  them  in  connection  with 
the  history  before  us,  as  another  specimen  of  the  clearness 
and  cogency  of  the  argument  of  the  "  Horse  Paulinas."  The 
first  passage  is  as  follows  :^  "  Now  I  would  not  have  you 
ignorant,  brethren,  that  oftentimes  I  purposed  to  come  unto 
you,  (but  was  let  hitherto,)  that  I  might  have  some  fruit 
among  you  also,  even  as  among  other  Gentiles."  The  sec- 
ond runs  thus  :t  "But  now  having  no  more  place  in  these 
parts,  and  having  a  great  desire  these  many  years  to  come 
unto  you ;  whensoever  I  take  my  journey  into  Spain,  I  will 
come  to  you :  for  I  trust  to  see  you  in  my  journey,  and  to 

*  Rom.  i.,  13.  t  Rom.  xv.,  23-28. 


The  Uproar  at  Ephesus.  3^9 

be  brought  on  my  way  thitherward  by  you,  if  first  I  be  some- 
what filled  with  your  company.     But  now  I  go  unto  Jerusa- 
lem to  minister  unto  the  saints.  .  .  .  When,  therefore,  I  have 
performed  this,  and  have  sealed  to  them  this  fruit,  I  will 
come  by  you  into   Spain."      Now,  argues   Paley,  the  con- 
formity between  the  history  and  the  epistle  is  perfect.     In 
the  first  passage  of  the  epistle  we  find  that  a  design  of  visit- 
ing Rome  had  long  dwelt  in  the  apostle's  mind ;  and  here 
in  The  Acts  we  discover  that  design  expressed  a  considera- 
ble time  before  the  letter  was  written.     In  the  history  we 
observe  that  Paul's  plan  was  to  go  first  through  Macedonia 
and  Achaia,  after  that  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  and  then  to  pro- 
ceed to  Rome.     When  the  epistle  was  written,  as  we  know 
it  was  from  Corinth,  he  had  already  filled  in  that  outline 
so  far  as  Macedonia  and  Achaia  were  concerned,  and  was 
preparing  to  go  to  Jerusalem.     But  while  thus  the  history 
and  epistle  are  in  perfect  harmony,  it  is  also  perfectly  clear 
that  the  one  could  not  be  made  up  from  the  other ;  for  if 
the  passage  in  the  epistle  was  taken  from  the  history,  why 
was  any  mention  of  Spain  made  in  it  ?  and  if  the  passage  in 
the  history  was  taken  from  the  letter,  how  comes  it  that  all 
reference  to  Spain  was  left  out  ?     Very  clearly  no  impostor 
could  have  concocted  those  things,  and  the  simplest  expla- 
nation of  them  is  their  truth* 

Pending  his  own  departure  for  Europe,  the  apostle  sent 
Timothy  and  Erastus  into  Macedonia.  The  latter  of  these 
appears  in  the  history  here  for  the  first  time.  There  was 
an  Erastus,  chamberlain  of  the  city  of  Corinth ;  and  a  per- 
son of  the  same  name,  very  likely  the  same  person,  is  spo- 
ken of  in  the  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy  ;t  but  we  have  no 
means  of  determining  whether  he  is  the  individual  referred 


*  Paley's  "  Horse  Paulinoe,"  chap,  ii.,  No.  3. 
i  Rom.  xvi.  23  ;  2  Tim.  iv.,  20. 


14^ 


320  Paul  the  Missionary. 

to  here.  Paul  despatched  these  brethren  before  him,  in  or- 
der, perhaps,  to  expedite  the  collection  which  he  was  making 
for  the  poor  Jews  from  the  European  churches,  so  that  he 
might  be  able  to  take  it  with  him  on  his  next  visit  to  Jeru- 
salem. He,  however,  remained  a  little  longer  in  Ephesus 
himself,  and  his  reason  for  doing  so  is  given  in  these  words  :* 
"  I  will  tarry  at  Ephesus  until  Pentecost.  For  a  great  door 
and  effectual  is  opened  unto  me,  and  there  are  many  adver- 
saries." That  is  to  say,  he  saw  some  great  public  oppor- 
tunity of  usefulness  before  him,  and  he  stayed  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  that,  even  though  it  might  require  him  to  face 
many  adversaries ;  nay,  all  the  more  because  it  was  all  but 
certain  that  it  would.  Now,  as  the  nature  of  this  oppor- 
tunity thus  alluded  to  will  help  to  explain  the  tumult  of 
which  an  account  is  given  in  the  history  of  Luke,  it  will  be 
proper  to  set  it  clearly  before  you.  Pentecost  came  seven 
weeks  after  the  Passover ;  and  so,  as  the  Passover  occurred 
in  the  end  of  March  or  beginning  of  April,  seven  weeks 
after  that  would  include  the  larger  part  of  the  month  of 
May.  But  that  month  was  in  Ephesus  one  of  peculiar  sanc- 
tity and  splendor,  and  multitudes  from  all  the  cities  of  Asia 
crowded  into  it,  to  behold  the  spectacles  and  participate  in 
the  worship  with  which  they  were  connected.  What  the 
Passover  was  in  Jerusalem,  or  rather,  perhaps,  what  the  Car- 
nival is  now  in  Rome,  that  the  month  of  May  was  in  Ephe- 
sus. It  was  called  Artemision,  or  Diana's  month ;  and  ev- 
eiything  that  ingenuity  could  devise  was  done  to  make  it  a 
season  of  pleasure  and  enjoyment,  as  well  as  a  time  of  spe- 
cial adoration  of  the  goddess.  Ten  men,  called  Asiarchs 
— or,  as  our  version  has  rendered  the  word,  "  the  chief  of 
Asia"  —  were  chosen  annually  from  the  principal  Asiatic 
cities  for  the  purpose  of  presiding  over  the  games  which 

*  I  Cor.  xvi.,  8,  9. 


The  Uproar  at  Ephesus.  321 

were  held  during  the  month.  They  were  generally  selected 
for  their  eminence  as  citizens,  and  their  known  wealth  and 
liberality.  They  had  to  bear  the  entire  expenses  of  t\\Qfett', 
and  such  was  the  drain  on  their  resources  made  thereby, 
that  if  a  man  had  a  family  of  five  children  he  could  claim 
exemption  from  the  office ;  and  no  one  could  be  compelled 
to  fill  it  twice.  In  these  circumstances  we  can  understand 
how  Ephesus  would,  during  the  sacred  month,  be  thronged 
with  strangers,  and  how  Paul,  always  eager  for  the  dissem- 
ination of  the  Gospel,  determined  to  make  it  a  sowing  time 
among  the  people.  He  went  to  work,  we  may  be  sure,  pru- 
dently as  well  as  zealously ;  but  the  effects  of  his  exertions 
were  such  as  to  rouse  against  him  the  opposition  of  one  of 
the  most  important  guilds  in  the  city. 

Under  the  shadow  of  Diana's  temple,  which  was  visited 
by  worshippers  from  all  the  surrounding  region,  there  had 
sprung  up  a  brisk  manufacture  of  silver  models  of  the  shrine 
of  the  goddess,  which  were  sold  to  be  worn  as  charms  or 
set  up  in  chambers,  much  in  the  same  way  as  in  some  Ro- 
man Catholic  places  of  pilgrimage,  metallic  representations 
of  the  Virgin,  or  of  the  saint  more  immediately  honored, 
are  disposed  of  to  superstitious  purchasers.  These  "  silver 
shrines  "  were  on  sale  all  the  year  round  ;  but  the  special 
harvest  of  the  craftsmen  was  reaped  in  the  month  of  May, 
when  visitors  came  to  the  city  from  afar,  and  each  was  ea- 
ger to  take  with  him  as  a  memorial  of  his  visit,  or  as  a  gift 
to  some  infirm  relative,  a  medallion  which  the  priests  had 
blessed.  On  this  occasion,  however,  the  demand  was  by 
no  means  so  large  as  usual ;  and  on  investigation  into  the 
causes  of  the  falling  off  in  their  trade,  one  of  the  leading 
manufacturers,  Demetrius  by  name,  was  compelled  to  trace 
it  to  the  labors  of  Paul.  As  soon  as  he  came  to  that  con- 
clusion, he  called  his  fellow-craftsmen — the  first  trades-union 
meeting  of  which  we  have  any  record — and  in  a  few  vigor- 


322  Paul  the  Missionary. 

ous  words  he  contrived  to  arouse  their  devotion  for  Diana 
to  a  pitch  of  wild  enthusiasm  by  an  appeal  to  their  self-in- 
terest. He  reminded  them  that  they  depended  on  the  mak- 
ing of  shrines  for  their  prosperity ;  pointed  out  to  them  that 
the  doctrines  which  "this  Paul"  preached  undermined  the 
worship  of  Diana,  and  declared  that  if  they  ever  came  to 
prevail,  the  temple  would  be  destroyed,  and  they  themselves 
reduced  to  beggary.  Thus  identifying  their  pecuniary  inter- 
ests with  their  religious  devotion,  he  so  excited  them  on  be- 
half of  the  goddess  that  they  shouted,  "  Great  is  Diana  of  the 
Ephesians  /"  The  noise  thus  produced  speedily  gathered  a 
crowd ;  for  nothing  is  more  easy  than  to  collect  a  mob,  but 
nothing  more  difficult  than  to  control  one.  On  the  pres- 
ent occasion  the  design  of  Demetrius  evidently  was  to  se- 
cure, by  popular  and  irresponsible  violence,  a  result  which 
would,  in  his  view,  be  for  his  own  interest  and  that  of  his 
guild.  Under  the  Roman  government  the  murder  or  mal- 
treatment of  a  Roman  citizen  would  be  sure  to  be  investi- 
gated, if  that  were  at  all  practicable  ;  but  if  the  evil  were  the 
result  of  an  ef?teiite,  and  could  not  be  traced  to  any  individual 
in  particular,  no  one  would  be  endangered.  So  the  crafts- 
men left  the  mob  to  do  their  work,  only  indicating  that  Paul 
was  to  be  assailed.  It  is  probable  that  they  went  at  once 
to  the  home  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla  to  seek  him ;  and  if  we 
adopt  that  view,  then  it  may  have  been  on  this  occasion 
that  these  dear  friends  of  the  apostle  risked  their  lives,  or, 
as  he  phrases  it,  "  laid  down  their  own  necks  "  on  his  be- 
half.* Not  finding  Paul,  they  caught  Gains  and  Aristarchus, 
who  were  known  to  be  his  friends  and  fellow-travellers,  and 
hurried  them  off  to  the  theatre,  which,  though  constructed 
chiefly  for  gladiatorial  exhibitions  and  dramatic  entertain- 
ments, was  the  favorite  place  for  public  assemblies  of  all 

*  Rom.  xvi.,  4. 


The  Uproar  at  Ephesus.  323 

sorts.  Large  as  that  enclosure  was — capable,  as  Mr.  Wood, 
the  most  recent  investigator,  assures  us,  of  holding  twenty- 
five  thousand  people — its  stone  benches  were  rapidly  filled 
by  a  tumultuous  assemblage,  of  which  the  larger  part  could 
not  tell  why  they  were  there,  but  were  themselves  increasing 
the  confusion  by  continually  shouting.  Every  one  who  has 
witnessed  an  excited  public  meeting  composed  of  fiery  spir- 
its who  are  determined  to  refuse  every  speaker  a  hearing, 
and  at  which  the  densely  packed  multitude  sways  to  and 
fro  like  the  waves  of  ocean  in  a  storm,  while  a  continuous 
babel  of  sounds,  earthly  and  unearthly,  composed  of  cat- 
calls, cock-crowings,  groanings,  bowlings,  shriekings,  and  the 
like,  is  kept  up,  may  form  an  accurate  conception  of  what 
took  place  that  day  in  the  Ephesian  theatre;  for  a  mob  is 
the  same  in  all  ages  and  in  all  countries. 

When  Paul  heard  v/hat  was  going  on,  his  first  impulse 
prompted  him  to  go  at  once  and  take  his  place  beside  his 
friends,  that  they  might  not  suffer  in  his  stead  ;  but  the  dis- 
ciples around  him,  anxious  for  his  personal  safety,  sought 
to  dissuade  him.  It  is  questionable,  however,  whether  they 
would  have  succeeded  in  that,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  ad- 
vice of  some  of  the  Asiarchs  that  were  friendly  to  him.  It 
speaks  well  for  Paul,  and  not  ill  for  them,  that  these  men, 
who  were  at  once  the  furnishers  and  rulers  of  the  festival, 
were  kindly  disposed  toward  him.  Either  they  had  been 
convinced  by  his  arguments  "  that  they  be  no  gods  which 
are  made  with  hands,"  but,  Nicodemus-like,  were  unwill- 
ing to  declare  themselves ;  or  on  simply  personal  grounds 
they  were  interested  in  him,  and  sought  to  keep  him  from 
danger ;  or  perhaps  they  wanted  only  to  prevent  a  breach 
of  the  peace.  But  their  entreaty  prevailed,  and  he  did  not 
go  to  the  theatre.  Meanwhile,  as  the  tumult  went  on,  the 
Jews  who  resided  in  Ephesus  being  afraid  that  they  might 
be  blamed  for  the  whole  affair,  although  they  were  as  much 


324  Paul  the  Missionary. 

opposed  to  Paul  as  Demetrius  was,  put  forward  one  called 
Alexander — supposed  by  some  to  be  the  coppersmith  al- 
luded to  in  the  letter  to  Timothy — that  he  might  exonerate 
them.  But  beckon  as  he  might,  the  multitude  would  not 
listen  to  him ;  nay,  as  they  recognized  his  Jewish  features, 
they  became  more  furious  than  ever,  and  kept  up  their 
shouting  for  two  hours  on  end,  "  Great  is  Diana  of  the 
Ephesians !"  Of  course  that  could  not  go  on  forever. 
Men's  throats  are  not  of  brass,  neither  their  lungs  of  leath- 
er ;  so  at  length  there  came  a  lull,  when  one  of  the  magis- 
trates of  the  city  took  the  opportunity  of  speaking  a  few 
quieting  sentences.  He  is  called  in  our  version  "  the  town- 
clerk;"  but  although  he  kept  the  records  of  the  city,  his 
office  in  other  respects  was  liker  that  of  mayor  among  us 
than  town-clerk.  He  was  the  proper  president  of  all  their 
popular  assemblies,  and  indeed,  under  the  proconsul,  the 
chief  magistrate  of  the  city.  This  will  account  at  once  for 
the  respect  with  which  he  was  listened  to,  and  the  authority 
with  which  he  spoke.  His  address  was  exceedingly  adroit, 
and  shows  that  he  Vv^ell  knew  how  to  deal  with  a  multitude 
of  excited  citizens.  He  began  with  a  compliment  to  their 
goddess,  whose  image  fell  from  heaven,  and  of  whose  tem- 
ple the  city  to  which  they  belonged  was  the  willing  and  de- 
voted "sacristan."*  Then,  having  gained  their  attention  by 
this  apparent  concession  to  their  enthusiasm,  he  bade  them 
be  on  their  guard  against  rashly  making  accusations  which 
they  could  not  substantiate  by  legal  evidence.  He  affirmed 
that  the  men  whom  they  had  dragged  into  the  theatre  had 
not  been  guilty  of  anything  which  they  could  construe  into 
sacrilege,  and  had  not  been  heard  to  speak  against  their 
favorite  goddess.  Then,  referring  to  the  ringleader  of  the 
riot,  he  alleged  that  if  he  had  anything  to  complain  of  in 

*  In  the  original  veoJKupov  ;  literally,  "temple-sweeper." 


The  Uproar  at  Ephesus.  325 

the  matter  of  his  craft,  the  right  redress  was  to  be  had  in 
the  courts  of  law  presided  over  by  the  proconsul,  and  for 
the  holding  of  which  regular  days  were  appointed.  But  be- 
neath the  velvet  glove  thus  ostentatiously  held  out  there 
was  an  iron  hand,  of  which  one  little  squeeze  was  given  as 
a  gentle  reminder  that  they  were,  under  the  inflexible  Ro- 
man power.  He  told  them  that  the  proper  place  for  dis- 
cussing public  matters  was  the  lawful  assembly ;  and  with 
a  reference  to  the  lawlessness  of  their  present  gathering, 
which  was  sufficient  to  make  them  prudent  at  least,  if  not 
afraid  lest  they  should  be  called  in  question,  he  dismissed 
them  to  their  homes. 

Now,  here  two  things  call  for  attention.  In  the  first 
place,  we  are  struck  with  the  testimony  borne  by  the  mayor 
to  the  wisdom  wdth  which  Paul  had  prosecuted  his  work 
at  Ephesus.  He  had  not  made  any  quixotic  attack  on  the 
special  idolatry  of  the  place,  but  had  contented  himself  with 
enforcing  the  positive  truth  about  the  spirituality  and  om- 
nipresence of  God.  He  had  neither  said  nor  done  any- 
thing which,  even  in  the  estimation  of  the  idolaters,  could 
be  construed  into  sacrilege  or  blasphemy  of  Diana.  Rather 
he  had  here,  as  at  Athens,  viewed  the  idolatry  of  the  people 
as  a  finger-post  pointing  to  something  higher,  nobler,  purer 
than  itself.  Doubtless,  if  he  had  cared  to  pry  into  the  mys- 
teries of  the  temple,  he  might  have  found  some  terrible 
abuses  ;  but  the  exposure  of  these  would  only  have  irritated 
and  aggravated  the  people,  while  still  the  central  evil  would 
have  been  untouched.  Therefore,  with  consummate  wisdom 
he  let  Diana  alone,  and  contented  himself  with  preaching 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  leaving  that  to  filter  its  way  into 
the  minds  of  his  hearers,  sure  that  in  the  end  they  would 
turn  from  "  lying  vanities  to  serve  the  living  and  true  God." 
This  example  is  full  of  significance  for  all  who  are  called  to 
act  as  missionaries,  either  in  heathen  lands  or  in  countries 


326  Paul  the  Missionary. 

where  a  corrupt  form  of  Christianity  prevails.  Controversy, 
indeed,  is  not  without  its  uses ;  but  it  tends  for  the  most 
part  to  stiffen  each  of  the  debaters  in  his  own  opinion,  and 
it  excites  antagonism  fully  more  frequently  than  it  produces 
conviction.  While  the  storms  beat  about  the  traveller,  in 
the  old  story,  he  drew  his  cloak  more  tightly  round  him ; 
but  when  the  sun  shone  strongly  on  him,  he  threw  the  man- 
tle aside.  So  if  we  can  introduce  the  truth  without  contro- 
versy, we  may  rely  that  it  will  expel  the  error,  just  as  the 
admission  of  the  sunlight  into  our  chamber  dissipates  the 
darkness  which  formerly  reigned  within  it.  The  statement 
made  by  the  Lord  to  the  woman,  "  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they 
that  worship  him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth," 
makes  no  direct  attack  on  any  concrete  form  of  heathenism, 
and  yet  its  acceptance  makes  idolatry  for  the  individual  im- 
possible. In  like  manner,  the  presentation  of  the  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith  makes  no  controversial  assault  upon 
the  ritual  of  Romanism ;  but  yet,  wherever  that  doctrine  is 
believed,  penance  and  the  mass  immediately  lose  their  hold 
upon  the  heart.  He  who  assails  the  worship  of  the  Virgin 
in  a  Roman  Catholic  country  may  be — very  likely  will  be — 
silenced  at  once ;  but  he  who  exalts  Christ  as  the  only  Sav- 
iour may  be  permitted  to  go  on  long  enough  to  lodge  truths 
in  the  hearts  of  the  people  which  shall  become  mighty  forces 
among  them  in  after-days.  It  is  easy  to  denounce  and  ex- 
pose evil,  and  an  immediate  notoriety  will  be  sure  to  reward 
him  who  enters  upon  such  a  course  ;  but,  after  all,  that  does 
not  reform  it.  Nothing  but  the  introduction  of  positive 
truth  will  avail  for  that ;  and  therefore  he  is  the  wise  propa- 
gandist who  keeps  himself  mainly  to  that.  There  will  be  a 
stir  at  length  ;  but  then  the  stir  will  be  made  by  the  truth, 
not  by  the  man,  and  there  is  an  immense  difference  between 
these  two  effects.  The  one  is  transient,  the  other  is  endur- 
ing.    The  one  awakens  reproach,  the  other  secures  vindica- 


The  Uproar  at  Ephesus.  327 

tion  even  from  men  who,  like  the  Ephesian  recorder,  are 
themselves,  nominally  at  least,  on  the  side  of  error. 

The  second  thing  to  be  noted  here  is  the  exact  corre- 
spondence between  the  representations  made  in  the  narra- 
tive before  us,  and  the  inscriptions  which  have  been  recent- 
ly brought  to  light  by  the  excavations  of  Mr.  Wood.  First, 
as  regards  Diana :  This  goddess  appears  on  these  inscrip- 
tions as  "the  great  goddess  Artemis;"  and  sometimes  as 
"the  supremely  great  goddess."  She  has  her  priestesses, 
her  temple  curators,  her  divines,  her  choristers,  and  the  like. 
Her  birthday  is  again  and  again  mentioned.  She  is  seen 
and  heard  everywhere ;  so  that  there  is  no  exaggeration 
whatever  in  the  picture  which  Luke  has  painted. 

Next,  as  to  the  theatre :  That  appears  from  Mr.  Wood's 
inscriptions  to  have  been  the  recognized  place  of  public  as- 
sembly. There  edicts  were  proclaimed,  and  decrees  record- 
ed. There,  too,  were  memorials  on  every  hand  of  the  great- 
ness of  the  goddess,  so  that,  as  Canon  Lightfoot  has  said, 
"  If  the  town-clerk  had  desired  to  make  good  his  assertion, 
'  What  man  is  there  that  knoweth  not  that  the  city  of  Eph- 
esus is  sacristan  of  the  great  goddess  Diana  ?'  he  had  only 
to  point  to  the  inscriptions  which  lined  the  theatre  for  con- 
firmation. The  very  stones  would  have  cried  out  from  the 
walls  in  response  to  his  appeal."* 

Again,  as  to  the  name  temple-keeper,  or  sacristan,  given 
here  (veiOKopoy)  to  the  city  of  Ephesus,  we  find  in  these  in- 
scriptions for  the  first  time  a  direct  use  of  the  same  term  in 
the  same  application  ;  for  on  one  of  the  newly-discovered 
stones  the  city  of  Ephesus  is  described  as  "  twice  sacristan 
of  the  Augusti,  according  to  the  decrees  of  the  senate,  and 
sacristan  of  Diana."     In  like  manner,  the  use  of  the  term 


*  See  article  in  Cojitemporary  Review  for  May,  1878,011  "The  Acts, 
illustrated  by  Recent  Discoveries,"  by  Canon,  now  Bishop,  Lightfoot. 


328  Paul  the  Missionary. 

sacrilege  here  is  explained  by  an  inscription  found  in  the 
theatre,  though  not  yet  set  up  at  the  time  when  the  recorder 
spoke,  in  which  these  words  occur,  "  Let  it  be  regarded  as 
sacrilege  and  impiety."  It  thus  appears  that  certain  of- 
fences were  treated  as  constructive  sacrilege  against  the 
goddess. 

The  same  correspondence  appears  in  the  political  refer- 
ences. Three  distinct  officers  are  mentioned  in  the  narrative 
of  Luke,  namely,  the  proconsul,  or  "  deputy,"  as  it  is  in  our 
version;  the  recorder, or  "town-clerk;"  and  the  Asiarchs,  or 
"the  chief  of  Asia."  Now  all  these  appear,  as  we  are  told 
by  Lightfoot,  again  and  again,  in  the  newly-discovered  in- 
scriptions. "  Sometimes  two  of  the  three  magistracies  will 
be  mentioned  on  the  same  stone.  Sometimes  the  same  per- 
son will  unite  in  himself  the  two  offices  of  recorder  and 
Asiarch,  either  simultaneously  or  not.  The  mention  of  the 
recorder  is  especially  frequent.  His  name  is  employed  to 
authenticate  every  decree,  and  to  fix  every  date."*  So, 
again,  the  meaning  of  the  term,  "  a  lawful  assembly,"  as  de- 
noting one  of  those  held  on  stated  days  already  specified 
by  the  law,  in  contradistinction  to  those  called  on  special 
emergencies  out  of  the  ordinary  course,  is  illustrated  by  an 
inscription  found  in  the  theatre,  providing  that  a  certain  sil- 
ver image  of  Athene  should  be  brought  and  "  set  at  every 
lawful  assembly,  above  the  bench  where  the  boys  sit."  Thus 
the  most  recent  discoveries  of  the  excavator  at  Ephesus,  as 
at  Cyprus,  confirm  in  all  respects  the  truthfulness  of  the 
sacred  narrative.  Nay,  we  may  go  farther  still,  and  affirm 
with  the  learned  canon,  to  whom  already  I  have  been  so 
largely  beholden,  that  "  ancient  literature  has  no  picture  of 
the  Ephesus  of  imperial  times — the  Ephesus  which  has  been 
unearthed  by  the  sagacity  and  perseverance  of  Mr.  Wood — 

*  Lightfoot's  article,  as  before. 


The  Uproar  at  Ephesus.  329 

comparable,  for  its  lifelike  truthfulness,  to  the  narrative  of 
Paul's  sojourn  there  in  The  Acts."* 

But  now,  leaving  the  mere  antiquities  of  our  theme,  let  us 
seek  to  carry  away  with  us  some  of  its  valuable  lessons. 

And,  in  the  first  place,  let  us  note  how  self-interest  tends 
to  pervert  the  judgment.     The  great  Scottish  poet  has  said, 

*•  When  self  the  wavering  balance  shakes, 
It's  rarely  richt  adjusted." 

And  an  acquaintance  with  our  own  hearts,  as  well  as  the 
observation  of  the  actions  of  others,  will  amply  confirm  his 
words.  "  A  gift  blindeth  the  eyes ;"  but  the  same  influence 
is  no  less  powerfully  exerted  by  the  prejudices  engendered 
by  one's  trade  or  profession.  We  can  scarcely  expect  that 
the  holder  of  a  comfortable  sinecure  or  of  a  government 
ofiice  will  become  an  ardent  advocate  for  retrenchment  or 
civil  service  reform.  The  self-interest  of  the  employer  is 
apt  to  prevent  him  from  being  perfectly  just  to  the  employ- 
ed ;  and  the  workmen,  on  the  other  hand,  are  hindered  by 
class  influences  and  combinations  from  fully  realizing  the 
position  of  the  master.  It  would  require  a  great  stretch  of 
candor  in  one  who  is  a  dignitary  of  a  State  church  to  see 
any  advantages  in  disestablishment ;  and  the  minister  of 
the  Gospel  v/ho  is  liberally  supported  by  his  own  people 
can  scarcely  give  an  unbiassed  opinion  on  the  arguments  of 
those  who  maintain  that  there  should  be  no  paid  pastors. 
Observe,  I  am  not  now  saying  a  word  as  to  the  truth  or 
falsehood  of  the  different  opinions  on  such  questions.,  I 
am  only  remarking  on  the  difficulty  which  those  who  are 
pecuniarily  interested  in  their  settlement  must  have  in  com- 
ing to  a  thoroughly  unprejudiced  decision  regarding  them. 
This  difficulty  is  recognized  in  all  civil  trials  by  the  exclu- 

*  Lightfoot's  article,  as  before. 


33°  Paul  the  Missionary. 

sion  from  the  jury-box  of  those  who  are  personally  interest- 
ed in  the  verdict  that  must  be  given,  and  we  must  all  admit 
that  we  are  in  danger  of  being  thus  biassed.  We  cannot 
call  each  other  bad  names  about  it,  for  we  are  all  alike. 

But  we  cannot  deny,  either,  that  self-love  is  as  really  a 
principle  of  our  nature  as  benevolence  or  justice.  What 
the  Word  of  God  insists  on  is,  not  that  it  should  be  de- 
stroyed, but  that  it  should  be  enlightened.  It  must  not  be 
blind  to  the  rights  of  others ;  nor  must  it  have  respect  to 
the  body,  or  money,  or  this  world  merely.  It  must  take  in 
the  wide  range  of  spiritual  matters,  and  weigh  everything  in 
the  balance  of  eternity.  The  corrective  which  the  Gospel 
administers  to  it  is  in  that  pregnant  question  of  the  Lord, 
"  What  shall  it  profit  a  man,  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world, 
and  lose  his  own  soul }  or  what  shall  a  man  give  in  exchange 
for  his  soul  ?"  Now,  taking  eternity  and  the  immutable 
principles  of  truth  and  righteousness  into  account,  what  the 
world  calls  selfishness  inflicts  the  greatest  injury  on  him 
who  practises  it;  while  that  which  it  styles  self-sacrifice  is 
only  a  larger  thoughtfulness  and  the  truest  self-love.  The 
Saviour's  paradox  is  indubitably  true :  "  He  that  loveth  his 
life  shall  lose  it ;  and  he  that  hateth  his  life  in  this  world 
shall  keep  it  unto  life  eternal,"*  But,  notwithstanding  this, 
the  great  majority  among  us  prefer  the  present  to  the  fut- 
ure, the  temporal  to  the  eternal.  A  genuine  truth-seeker — 
a  real  truth-follower,  who  cleaves  to  it  whithersoever  it  may 
lead  him,  is  about  the  rarest  as  well  as  the  noblest  of  men ; 
and  the  most  striking  testimony  which  in  this  mammon-wor- 
shipping age  a  man  can  give  of  his  sincerity,  is  to  resign  a 
large  pecuniary  benefit  rather  than  keep  it  against  the  pro- 
test of  his  conscience.  Yet,  after  all,  there  is  no  loyalty  to 
God  where  one  prefers  his  interest  to  his  duty,  and  lets  a 

*  John  xii.,  25. 


The  Uproar  at  Ephesus.  331 

piece  of  gold  hide  from  him  the  truth  over  which  it  is  laid. 
•Let  us,  therefore,  cultivate  devotion  to  truth  in  our  alle- 
giance to  Him  who  said,  "  I  am  the  Truth ;"  and  when  we 
feel  tempted,  like  Demetrius,  to  let  worldly  profits  come  be- 
tween us  and  it,  let  us  widen  our  view,  and  take  eternity 
into  the  account.  So  shall  we  attain  a  right  estimate  of 
temporal  things,  and  rise  into  the  clear,  dry  light  of  unprej- 
udiced inquiry.  When  the  natural  philosopher  would  be 
precise  in  his  experiments,  he  performs  them  beneath  the 
exhausted  receiver  of  an  air-pump,  so  that  the  atmosphere 
may  have  no  influence  ;  and  in  like  manner,  when  we  would 
prosecute  our  inquiries  in  the  great  department  of  moral 
and  spiritual  truth,  we  ought  to  conduct  them  beneath — 
shall  I  call  it — the  exhausted  receiver  of  the  Word  of  God, 
away  from  the  pressure  of  the  world's  atmosphere,  and  as 
matters  between  ourselves  and  Jehovah. 

But  we  may  see,  in  the  second  place,  that  it  speaks  ill  for 
a  trade  when  its  prosperity  is  destroyed  by  the  progress  of 
the  Gospel.  Many  trades  have  been  quickened  by  the  con- 
version of  communities  to  Christ.  The  progress  of  our  mis- 
sionaries in  some  parts  of  central  Turkey  has  caused  quite 
a  demand  for  American  ploughs  ;  and  the  Christianization 
of  heathen  tribes  always  increases  their  trade  with  civilized 
nations ;  so  that  for  every  dollar  expended  in  foreign  mis- 
sions the  country  gets  at  least  ten  back  in  increased  com- 
merce. But  there  are  some  trades  that  cannot  thrive  where 
the  Gospel  succeeds,  and  hereby  we  are  furnished  with  a 
clear  and  well-defined  test,  which  every  man  can  apply  for 
himself,  and  by  the  application  of  which  he  may  discover 
whether  or  not  he  is  in  a  lawful  calling.  If,  while  I  am 
praying  for  success  in  my  business,  I  have  the  clearest  evi- 
dence that  it  can  succeed  only  by  retarding  the  progress  of 
the  Gospel,  then  my  duty  is  clear,  and  at  whatever  sacrifice 
I  must  leave  that  trade.     If,  while  I  am  praying  "  Thy  king- 


332  Paul  the  Missionary. 

dom  come,"  I  have  the  conviction  that  it  can  only  come  by- 
crippling  and  ultimately  destroying  my  business,  then  sure- 
ly there  can  be  no  hesitation  in  coming  to  the  conclusion 
that  I  ought  to  leave  off  that  business.  There  are  only  two 
ways  of  it.  Such  a  trade  will  either  smother  the  Christian- 
ity of  the  man,  or  his  Christianity  will  destroy  his  trade,  and 
lead  him  to  give  it  up.  The  two  will  not  hold  together. 
Now  there  are  such  trades.  I  do  not  need  to  name  them. 
You  have  already  mentioned  them  within  your  hearts,  and 
if  you  are  in  one  of  them,  get  out  of  it  at  once. 

We  may  see  here,  thirdly,  that  a  time  of  excitement  is 
not  favorable  for  determining  duty.  These  Ephesians  were 
suffering  from  temporary  madness ;  and  any  conclusion 
which  they  might  then  come  to  would  be  dangerous.  The 
"town -clerk,"  therefore,  gave  them  good  advice  when  he 
said,  "  Ye  ought  to  be  quiet,  and  to  do  nothing  rashly." 
Now  we  need  not  be  above  taking  the  counsel  of  this  hea- 
then magistrate.  When  we  are  in  a  passion,  which  we  should 
be  as  seldom  as  possible,  v/e  ought  to  defer  deciding  on  the 
matter  which  has  provoked  us  until  our  calmness  has  re- 
turned. It  is  always  a  good  rule  to  hold  over  a  thing  of 
that  sort.  Let  the  irritation  subside ;  let  reason,  which  is 
for  the  moment  dethroned,  resume  its  sway ;  let  God's  for- 
giveness be  asked,  and  his  direction  sought  in  earnest  prayer, 
then  gravely,  deliberately,  and  soberly  let  us  do  as  he  may 
indicate.  Never  decide  on  any  course  when  you  are  excited 
by  anger.  If  something  have  occurred  to  destroy  your  equi- 
librium, and  you  feel  you  cannot  restrain  your  wrath,  then 
sit  down  and  write  a  letter  to  him  who  has  been  the  cause 
of  your  anger,  put  into  it  all  that  you  feel,  make  it  hot  and 
strong,  so  that  your  soul  is  thoroughly  relieved  by  telling 
him  thus  a  piece  of  your  mind,  then  fling  it  aside  until  the 
next  day.  When  you  open  your  desk  in  the  morning,  read  it 
and  see  what  a  fool  you  were ;  then  put  it  into  the  fire,  and 


The  Uproar  at  Ephesus.  333 

let  it  and  your  wrath  both  burn  together.  After  that,  decide 
what  you  shall  do,  and  you  will  acknowledge  the  truth  of  the 
old  proverb,  "  There's  luck  in  leisure."  The  captain  who 
insists  on  going  to  sea  in  the  midst  of  a  hurricane  is  fool- 
hardy; but  he  is  equally  demented  who  insists  upon  de- 
ciding important  questions  when  he  is  in  a  passion.  For 
one,  I  desire  to  express  my  indebtedness  to  this  Ephesian 
town-clerk  for  the  valuable  advice  he  gave.  I  have  never 
followed  it  without  advantage,  and  it  would  have  been  bet- 
ter for  me  if  I  had  followed  it  more  frequently.  When  you 
are  in  da«ger  of  letting  your  temper  overmaster  your  judg- 
ment, call  to  mind  this  history,  take  counsel  with  the  town- 
clerk  of  Ephesus,  and  "  do  nothing  rashly." 

Finally,  we  may  see  here  what  calmness  is  secured  by  him 
who  possesses  conscious  rectitude  and  faith  in  God.  In 
this  terrible  tumult  the  apostle  continued  to  be  thoroughly 
composed.  He  seems  the  least  excited  man  among  them 
all.  He  was  ready  to  brave  the  danger,  if  need  were ;  but 
he  was  calm  enough  also  to  see  the  wisdom  of  the  advice 
given  by  his  friends.  Now,  how  shall  we  account  for  this 
inner  peace  in  the  midst  of  such  outward  riot }  Simply  by 
the  fact  that  he  had  a  conscience  void  of  offence  toward 
God  and  toward  man,  and  was  well  assured  that,  living  or 
dying,  he  was  the  Lord's.  There  was  One  beside  him. 
mightier  than  the  mob,  and  he  was  sure  of  his  protection ; 
for  to  be  on  the  side  of  God  is  also  to  have  God  on  our 
side.  I  cannot  but  think,  too,  that  he  was  sustained  and 
soothed  by  his  faith  in  the  glorious  immortality  that  was  be- 
fore him.  You  may  remember  how,  in  his  sublime  argument 
on  the  resurrection,  he  says,  "If  after  the  manner  of  men  I 
have  fought  with  beasts  at  Ephesus,  what  advantageth  it 
me,  if  the  dead  rise  not  ?"  and  though,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
letter  in  which  these  words  occur  was  sent  from  Ephesus 
before  this  riot,  and  there  could,  therefore,  be  no  reference 


334 


Paul  the  Missionary. 


in  it  to  this  particular  tumult,  yet  the  truth  which  sustained 
him  on  former  occasions,  and  specially  on  that — whatever 
it  was — which  he  calls  a  fighting  with  beasts,  would  sustain 
him  now.  The  most  they  could  do  with  him  was  to  kill  him, 
and  that  would  only  introduce  him  into  the  immediate  pres- 
ence of  his  Lord.  Thus  their  worst  was  his  best ;  and  when 
we  realize  that,  we  see  in  a  moment  the  secret  of  his  calm- 
ness. Now,  cannot  we  secure  this  same  peace  by  loyalty 
to  conscience  and  faith  in  Jesus .?  Oh,  it  gives  a  manly 
erectness  to  the  soul  when  one  can  hold  up  his  head  thus 
above  the  threatenings  and  opposition  of  the  multitude,  and 
say  with  our  apostle,  "With  me  it  is  a  small  matter  to 
be  judged  of  you,  or  of  man's  judgment,  yea,  I  judge  not 
mine  own  self ;  there  is  one  that  judgeth  me,  even  God ;" 
nay,  humanity  does  then  "  show  likest  God  "  when,  firm  in 
the  consciousness  of  rectitude,  and  strong  in  confidence  in 
Christ,  it  stands  unmoved  amid  the  tumults  of  the  people, 
bidding  them  calm  defiance,  and  realizing  the  picture  of  the 
poet: 

"  As  some  tall  cliff  that  lifts  its  awful  form, 
Swells  from  the  vale  and  midway  leaves  the  storm, 
Though  round  its  breast  the  rolling  clouds  are  spread, 
Eternal  sunshine  settles  on  its  head." 

Seek  to  have  this  purity  of  conscience  and  this  firmness  of 
faith ;  for  he  may  well  confront  the  howling  multitude,  or 
brave  the  dungeon  and  the  stake,  who  is  assured  of  these 
three  possessions — a  good  God,  a  good  conscience,  and  a 
good  cause. 


XVIII. 

THE  DOCTRINAL  EPISTLES. 

Acts  xx.,  i-i6. 

IN  the  opening  verses  of  the  twentieth  chapter  of  the 
Book  of  The  Acts  we  have  a  condensed  summary  of  the 
journeyings  of  Paul  during  a  period  of  about  twelve  months. 
But  by  a  diligent  use  of  the  materials  incidentally  furnished 
in  some  of  his  epistles,  we  are  able  to  fill  in  very  largely 
the  interesting  details  over  which  the  historian  passes  with- 
out either  specification  or  remark.  As  w^e  have  already 
seen,^  Paul  had  three  things  in  his  purpose  :  first,  to  go 
through  Macedonia  and  Achaia  ;  second,  to  go  to  Jerusalem ; 
and  third,  to  visit  Rome.  When,  therefore,  he  left  Ephesus, 
it  was  not  in  consequence  of  the  uproar,  or  because  he  was 
afraid  of  his  life,  but  simply  in  fulfilment  of  his  design.  His 
departure  was  neither  hasty  nor  stealthy;  but  as  formerly, 
at  Corinth,  he  called  the  brethren  together,  and  addressed 
and  embraced  them  before  he  set  out.  About  the  same  time, 
also,  we  may  infer  that  Aquila  and  Priscilla  left  Ephesus 
and  went  to  Rome ;  for  they  were  in  that  city  when,  nine  or 
ten  months  later,  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  was  written."t 
According  to  the  statement  of  the  historian,  the  apostle, 
before  the  occurrence  of  the  Ephesian  riot,|  had  sent  on 
Timothy  and  Erastus  to  Macedonia  in  advance  of  himself ; 
and,  as  we  conclude  from  a  passage  which  we  shall  present- 
ly quote,  Titus  had  been  despatched  direct  to  Corinth  some 


*  Acts  xix.,  21.  t  Rom.  xvi.,  3.  %  Acts  xix.,  22. 

IS 


336  Paul  the  Missionary. 

time  previously,  that  he  might  learn  what  effect  the  First  Epis- 
tle to  the  Corinthians  had  produced,  and  bring  back  a  report 
to  Paul.  The  company  which  left  Ephesus  with  the  apostle, 
therefore,  would  probably  comprise  Gaius  and  Aristarchus, 
who  belonged  to  Macedonia,  and  Tychicus  and  Trophi- 
mus,  who  were  natives  or  at  least  residents  of  Ephesus.* 
They  did  not  proceed  to  Neapolis  direct  by  sea,  but  made 
for  Troas,  the  place  hallowed  to  Paul  by  his  vision  of  the 
man  of  Macedonia,  who  cried,  "  Come  over  and  help  us!" 
Our  information  concerning  this  visit  is  derived  from  a  pas- 
sage in  the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,!  which  is  to 
the  following  effect :  "  Furthermore,  when  I  came  to  Troas 
to  preach  Christ's  gospel,  and  a  door  was  opened  unto  me 
of  the  Lord,  I  had  no  rest  in  my  spirit,  because  I  found  not 
Titus  my  brother ;  but  taking  my  leave  of  them,  I  went  from 
thence  into  Macedonia." 

Now  here  some  very  instructive  and  some  very  touching 
things  come  out.  In  the  first  place,  we  note  with  interest 
that  Paul  found  a  promising  field  of  usefulness  at  Troas  ; 
and  he  must  have  cultivated  it  with  diligence,  for,  on  his 
return  to  the  place  some  months  later,  we  find  a  large  and 
eager  congregation  waiting  on  his  ministrations.  To  one 
familiar,  as  perhaps  we  may  sujDpose  that  Paul  was,  with 
those  grand  old  Homeric  ballads  that  "  tell  the  tale  of  Troy 
divine,"  there  would  be  many  things  of  antiquarian  interest 
in  that  locality ;  but  all  these  were  secondary,  and  subordi- 
nate to  the  great  object  which  the  apostle  had  before  him. 
To  him  a  living  man  was  of  more  importance  than  a  buried 
city;  and  his  absorbing  work  was  to  preach  Christ  to  the 
perishing. 

But,  though  everything  at  Troas  was  encouraging,  we  are 
rather  surprised  to  find  that  Paul  was  restless  in  spirit,  and 

*  Compare  Acts  xx.,  4,  with  xix.,  29.  t  2  Cor.  ii.,  12, 13. 


The  Doctrinal  Epistles.  337 

had  little  heart  to  stay.  One  reason  for  that  was,  because 
his  mind  was  greatly  exercised  about  the  state  of  the  Co- 
rinthian church,  concerning  which  he  was  tempted  to  fear  the 
worst,  because  Titus  had  not  yet  returned,  as  had  been  ar- 
ranged, to  inform  him  of  the  effect  which  his  letter  had  pro- 
duced. We  should  err,  however,  if  we  supposed  that  his  de- 
pression of  spirit  was  caused  by  anxiety  for  that  one  church. 
On  the  contrary,  he  saw  in  the  divisions  of  Corinth,  taken  in 
connection  with  the  controversy  which  had  arisen  former- 
ly at  Antioch,  and  the  state  of  things  which  had  developed 
among  the  churches  of  Galatia,  the  great  coming  danger  of 
the  Church  of  Christ.  The  question,  as  Howson  has  well 
remarked,  was  rapidly  becoming  this  :  "  Is  the  Church  of 
Christ  to  degenerate  into  a  mere  Jewish  sect  ?  or  is  it  to  be 
a  spiritual  and  universal  society,  open  to  every  one  who  be- 
lieves in  Jesus  ?"*  and  as  the  apostle  saw  his  ritualistic  ad- 
versaries following  him  ever}^vhere,  and  sowing  the  seeds 
of  discord  and  of  error,  we  may  understand  his  distress. 
"What!"  does  some  one  say,  "Paul  burdened  with  anxiety, 
and  made  restless  by  suspense  !"  Yes,  it  is  even  so ;  for, 
though  he  wrote  "Be  careful  for  nothing;  but  in  everything 
by  prayer  and  supplication  with  thanksgiving  let  your  re- 
quests be  made  known  unto  God.  And  the  peace  of  God, 
which  passeth  all  understanding,  shall  keep  your  hearts  and 
minds  through  Christ  Jesus ;"  he  was  not  a  perfect  saint, 
and  did  not  always  act  upon  his  own  exhortation,  or  live  up 
to  his  high  privilege.  But  in  justice  to  him,  let  it  be  mark- 
ed that  his  restlessness  of  spirit  was  not  about  himself,  but 
about  the  Church.  Like  Eli,  he  "  trembled  for  the  ark  of 
God;"  and  though  the  source  of  fretting  and  worry  is  al- 
ways unbelief,  yet  it  is  a  nobler  thing  to  be  concerned  for 
the  purity  of  the  Church  than  for  one's  own  safety. 

*  Conybeare  and  Howson,  vol.  ii.,  p.  91. 


^^8  Paul  the  Missionary. 

It  is  to  be  remembered,  too,  that  in  Paul's  case,  there 
were  physical  as  well  as  spiritual  causes  for  his  desponden- 
cy. He  had  been  uninterruptedly  engaged  for  three  years, 
almost  night  and  day,  in  Ephesus,  in  wearing  and  fatiguing 
work;  and  all  who  know  what  mental  toil  is, especially  when, 
as  in  the  pastorate,  there  are  constant  demands  made  upon 
the  sympathies,  will  admit  that  his  physical  constitution 
must  have  been  considerably  unstrung.  Add  to  this  the 
fact  that  he  had  just  passed  through  a  very  severe  illness ; 
for  he  writes,*  "  We  would  not,  brethren,  have  you  ignorant 
of  our  trouble  which  came  to  us  in  Asia,  that  we  were  press- 
ed out  of  measure,  above  strength,  insomuch  that  we  de- 
spaired even  of  life."  Now,  whatever  that  illness  was,  it  had 
been  evidently  very  alarming ;  and  when  we  take  that  into 
consideration,  and  remember  the  strain  to  which  he  had 
been  subjected  in  connection  with  the  Ephesian  uproar,  we 
shall  more  readily  comprehend  how  he  came  to  be  in  such 
distress. 

But,  however  we  may  explain  his  restlessness  of  spirit,  we 
must  add  that  it  was  sorely  rebuked  by  the  result ;  for,  as 
we  shall  presently  see,  when  Titus  did  meet  him  in  Mace- 
donia, he  brought  such  a  report  as  at  once  relieved  his  mind 
and  gladdened  his  heart.  Thus  Paul  had  been  all  the  while 
tormenting  himself,  so  far  as  the  Corinthians  v/ere  concern- 
ed, about  that  which  never  occurred  !  But  who  among  us  is 
guiltless  of  the  same  sin,  or  may  righteously  cast  a  stone  at 
him  for  his  weakness  ?  We  are  all  prone  to  anticipate  evils, 
and  to  vex  ourselves  needlessly  about  things  which  either 
may  not  happen  or  will  not  happen.  We  make  crosses  for 
ourselves  by  meeting  things  before  we  come  to  them ;  and 
more  than  half  of  our  perplexities  we  manufacture  for  our- 
selves out  of  presentiments  that  are  never  realized.     We  go 

*  2  Cor.  ].,  8. 


The  Doctrinal  Epistles.  339 

through  the  gray  dawn  of  the  morning,  saying,  like  the  wom- 
en on  the  way  to  the  sepulchre,  "Who  shall  roll  us  away  the 
stone  ?"  and  when  we  come  up  to  it,  we  find  that  it  has  been 
already  removed.  We  are  continually  disquieting  ourselves 
as  to  how  we  shall  cross  the  river;  and  when  we  reach  it, 
we  find  a  ford  or  a  ferry,  or  perhaps  even  a  bridge.  Ah, 
how  God  reproves  our  faithlessness  and  our  fear,  by  letting 
us  see  that  he  has  arranged  all  things  for  us  beforehand,  so 
that  they  work  together  for  our  good !  Whosoever  among 
you,  therefore,  is  troubled  or  perplexed,  let  him  trust  in  the 
Lord.  Let  him,  in  the  expressive  language  of  the  Hebrew 
prophet,  "  stay  upon  his  God."  Worry  is  not  only  useless, 
but  it  is  needless  and  unbelieving ;  for  the  Lord  careth  for 
us,  and  would  have  us  be  without  carefulness.  Why,  then, 
should  we  torment  ourselves  even  with  present  troubles,  to 
say  nothing  of  those  which  have  not  yet  made  their  appear- 
ance ?     Beautifully  has  one  sung : 

"  O  Lord,  how  happy  we  should  be, 
Could  we  but  cast  our  care  on  thee, 

If  we  from  self  could  rest !  " 
If  we  could  feel  that  One  above, 
In  perfect  wisdom,  perfect  love, 
Is  working  for  the  best." 

Unable  to  rest  at  Troas,  Paul  pushed  forward  to  Mace- 
donia, judging  that  Titus  would  return  from  Corinth  by  that 
route.  As  before,  he  would  sail  over  to  Neapolis,  and  then 
proceed  to  Philippi ;  and  we  may  easily  imagine  with  what 
feelings  of  gratitude  and  affection  he  would  greet  the  breth- 
ren who  had  repeatedly  cheered  him  by  ministering  in  a 
most  substantial  manner  to  his  wants.  But  in  spite  of  the 
fellowship  of  these  friends,  his  anxiety  remained  ;  for  he 
says,  in  the  letter  already  quoted  from, "  When  we  were  come 
into  Macedonia,  our  flesh  had  no  rest,  but  we  were  troubled 


340  Paul  the  Missionary. 

on  every  side ;  without  were  fightings,  within  were  fears."* 
Poor  Paul!  why  should  he  have  had  these  "fears  within?" 
He  was  not  perfect,  after  all.  In  the  loftiest  attributes  of 
his  character,  he  so  towers  above  us  that  we  despair  of 
reaching  the  altitude  which  he  attained  ;  but  in  his  moments 
of  weakness  he  comes  very  near  us,  and  we  love  him  in  the 
latter  just  as  much  as  we  admire  him  in  the  former. 

At  length,  however,  Titus  arrived,  and  brought  with  him 
the  report  that  the  members  of  the  Corinthian  church  had 
manifested,  on  the  whole,  a  Christian  spirit ;  had  cast  out  the 
impure  person  from  their  fellowship ;  and  had  given  Titus 
himself  such  a  welcome  as  to  show  that  the  great  majority 
of  the  converts  were  still  heartily  attached  to  Paul,  and  to 
the  doctrines  which  he  had  taught.  These  tidings  lifted 
at  once  the  load  from  the  heart  of  the  apostle.  His  spirits 
recovered  their  wonted  cheerfulness,  and  his  step  regained 
its  elasticity,  so  that  he  could  write,  "  God  that  comforteth 
those  that  are  cast  down,  comforted  us  by  the  coming  of 
Titus ;  and  not  by  his  coming  only,  but  by  the  consolation 
wherewith  he  was  comforted  in  you,  when  he  told  us  your 
earnest  desire,  your  mourning,  your  fervent  mind  toward 
me;  so  that  I  rejoiced  the  more."t  But  Titus  brought 
also  the  information  that  there  was  still  a  small  minority  in 
the  church  who  resisted  Paul's  authority  and  repudiated  his 
teachings.  It  would  seem  that  this  party  was  composed 
cliiefly  of  Jews ;  for  in  referring  to  them  the  apostle  says, 
"  Are  they  Hebrews  ?  so  am  I  ;"|  and  it  is  likely  that  they 
were  ranged  under  a  particular  leader ;  for  in  at  least  one 
passage  Paul  speaks  as  if  with  pointed  reference  to  some 
well-knov/n  individual.  §  This  heresiarch  was  probably  a 
man  of  commanding  presence  and  eloquent  utterance,  who 


*  2  Cor.  vii.,  5.  t  2  Cor.  vii.,  6,  7. 

J  2  Cor.  xi.,  22.  §  2  Cor.  xi.,3. 


The  Doctrinal  Epistles.  341 

set  himself  by  every  means  in  his  power  to  undermine  the 
influence  of  the  apostle,  and  was  not  above  turning  to  ac- 
count for  that  purpose  the  insignificant  appearance  and  hes- 
itating speech  of  Paul*  It  would  appear,  also,  that  he  went 
so  far  as  to  deny  the  apostleship  of  Paul.  In  these  circum- 
stances, though  he  was  glad  to  hear  the  report  which  Titus 
brought  concerning  the  condition  of  the  church  as  a  whole, 
he  felt  that  he  could  not  visit  it  personally  until  he  had  given 
a  full  exposition  and  vindication  of  the  position  which  he 
held.  Hence  he  wrote,  probably  from  Philippi,  the  Second 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  in  which  we  have  so  many  inter- 
esting autobiographical  details,  and  by  which  he  has  irref- 
ragably  demonstrated  his  apostolic  authority. 

It  consists  of  two  portions  easily  distinguishable  from 
each  other.  The  one  is  addressed  to  the  humble,  docile, 
and  penitent  members  of  the  church.  The  other  is  direct- 
ed to  those  who  sought  to  undermine  his  influence  and  over- 
throw his  doctrines.  In  the  former  we  have  a  manifesta- 
tion of  his  gentleness,  as  he  labors  with  almost  tearful  itera- 
tion to  remove  any  painful  misunderstanding  which  might 
have  been  produced  by  his  former  letter.  In  the  latter  we 
have  a  specimen  of  his  sternness,  as  with  scathing  irony 
and  withering  logic  he  exposes  the  insinuations  and  demol- 
ishes the  arguments  of  his  antagonists.  The  epistle  thus 
presents  two  opposite  aspects  of  the  apostle's  character — 
to  wit,  his  affectionate  yearning  over  those  whom  he  recog- 
nized as  the  friends  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  his  uncompro- 
mising antagonism  to  those  in  whose  enmity  to  himself  he 
saw  only  the  development  of  their  hostility  to  Christ.  With 
this  two-sidedness,  it  resembles  a  mountain,  which  in  the 
one  direction  slopes  gradually  down  into  a  lovely  valley,  fur- 
nishing pleasant  pasture  for  the  "  nibbling  flocks ;"  and  in 

*  2  Cor.  X.,  10,  II. 


342  Paul  the  Missionary. 

the  other  is  a  sheer  basaltic  precipice  rising  in  rugged  ab- 
ruptness from  the  deep  defile,  and  frowning  like  a  fortress 
on  every  beholder.  It  gives  more  details  of  his  spiritual 
experience,  and  more  particulars  of  his  missionary  advent- 
ures than  any  other  of  his  epistles,  and  crowns  the  list  of 
personal  allusions  with  that  description  of  his  mysterious 
elevation  to  paradise,  and  its  equally  mysterious  sequel — 
the  thorn  in  the  flesh  —  which  have  exercised  and  baffled 
the  ingenuity  of  interpreters  in  every  age.  It  lacks  the  sys- 
tematic arrangement  of  his  more  doctrinal  letters ;  but  in 
the  eager  nervousness  of  its  appeals  there  is  something 
that  is  suggestive  of  the  earnest  solicitude  and  painful  sus- 
pense out  of  which  it  was  produced ;  and  no  one  can  read 
it  without  feeling  his  heart  go  out  in  loving  response  to  its 
author. 

With  this  letter  he  sent  Titus,*  and  two  deputies  whose 
names  are  not  mentioned,  but  who  are  thus  alluded  to  if 
*'  We  have  sent  with  him  the  brother,  whose  praise  is  in  the 
gospel  throughout  all  the  churches ;  and  not  that  only,  but 
who  was  also  chosen  of  the  churches  to  travel  with  us  with 
this  grace,  which  is  administered  by  us  to  the  glory  of  the 
same  Lord,  and  declaration  of  your  ready  mind.  .  .  .  And 
we  have  sent  with  them  our  brother,  whom  we  have  often- 
times proved  diligent  in  many  things,  but  now  much  more 
diligent,  upon  the  great  confidence  which  I  have  in  you." 
The  motive  for  his  sending  these  brethren,  however,  was  not 
simply  that  they  should  be  the  bearers  of  his  letter,  but  also 
that  they  might  expedite  the  collection  which  he  was  desir- 
ous of  making  among  the  Corinthians  for  the  poor  saints 
at  Jerusalem.  And  as  this  is  perhaps  the  most  appropriate 
opportunity  which  we  shall  have  of  adverting  to  that  sub- 
ject, we  shall  devote  a  few  minutes  to  its  consideration. 

*  2  Cor.  viii.,  16-18.  t  2  Cor.  viii.,  18,  19,  22.    ' 


The  Doctrinal  Epistles.  343 

At  the  meeting  of  the  apostles  and  elders  at  Jerusalem, 
after  the  settlement  for  the  thne  of  the  circumcision  contro- 
versy, the  "  pillars  "*  requested  Paul  to  remember  the  poor  ; 
and  though  he  had  always  been  forward  to  attend  to  them, 
his  heart  was  now  specially  set  on  carrying  a  generous  con- 
tribution from  the  Gentile  churches  to  the  destitute  mem- 
bers of  the  church  at  Jerusalem.  Probably  there  was  at 
this  time  particular  need  for  such  assistance ;  for,  like  In- 
dia and  China  to-day,  Palestine  was  liable  to  famines  from 
drought,  causing  wide-spread  suffering  both  in  want  and  dis- 
ease. But,  altogether  irrespective  of  considerations  of  mere 
humanity,  Paul  wished  by  this  gift  to  do  something  which 
might  produce  a  better  feeling  between  the  Jewish  and  non- 
Jewish  elements  of  the  primitive  church.  He  saw,  with  pro- 
found sorrow,  the  breach  which  was  daily  widening  between 
the  two  ;  and  though,  for  the  truth's  sake,  he  w^as  constrain- 
ed to  oppose  the  Judaizers,  yet  he  wished,  in  some  tangible 
and  effective  manner,  to  show  his  own  love  for  his  kinsmen 
according  to  the  flesh,  and  to  manifest  the  interest  which 
the  Gentile  converts  felt  in  their  brethren  at  Jerusalem. 
This  could  be  best  done  by  a  pecuniary  offering  to  the  ne- 
cessitous among  them,  and  therefore  he  stirred  up  his  friends 
in  the  cities  of  Asia,  Macedonia,  and  Achaia  to  make  con- 
tributions on  their  behalf.  Judging  from  the  references  in 
his  letters  to  this  subject,  and  from  the  names  of  those  who 
went  with  him  to  represent  the  Gentiles  in  Jerusalem,  we 
infer  that  the  scheme  was  taken  up  by  the  brethren  in  Phi- 
lippi,  Berea,  Thessalonica,  Derbe,  Ephesus,  and  Corinth. 

The  mode  in  which  he  advocated  this  collection,  and  the 
measures  which  he  took  to  secure  that  there  should  be  nei- 
ther suspicion  nor  dissatisfaction  in  the  case,  are  alike  re- 
markable.    It  was  to  be  a  voluntary  offering ;  but  to  induce 

*  Gal.  ii.,  9,  10. 

15* 


344  Paul  the  Missionary. 

them  to  give  more  liberally,  he  begs  the  Corinthians  to  re- 
member that  "  God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver;"  that  "he  that 
soweth  bountifully  shall  reap  also  bountifully;"  and  that, 
since  God  had  sent  them  spiritual  blessings  through  the 
Jews,  it  was  meet  that  they  should  in  return  minister  to  the 
Jews  in  temporal  things ;  yet  though  he  refers  in  glowing 
terms  of  unqualified  universality  to  the  benefits  which  their 
sincere  liberality  would  secure  to  them,  he  is  careful  to  put 
uppermost  the  great,  all  -  dominating  Christian  motive  in 
these  words  :  "  For  ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  that,  though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes  he  be- 
came poor,  that  ye  through  his  poverty  might  be  rich."* 

The  manner  in  which  he  wished  the  collection  to  be  made 
was  that  of  weekly  storing.  As  he  has  said,  "Upon  the  first 
day  of  the  week  let  every  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store,  as 
God  hath  prospered  him,  that  there  be  no  gatherings  when 
I  come."t  This  was  a  plan  w^hich  would  make  their  benev- 
olence, as  HowsonI  admirably  observes,  "equally  remote 
from  the  excitement  of  mere  popular  appeals,  and  the  mere 
impulse  "  of  instinct.  It  suggested  that  each  member  of  the 
church  should  have  a  private  storing-place,  into  which,  every 
Lord's-day,  out  of  love  to  Him  whose  resurrection  that  day 
commemorated,  he  should  put  a  sum  according  "  as  God 
had  prospered  him ;"  and  that  when  Paul  came  these  should 
all  be  brought  out  and  given  to  certain  persons  approved 
by  the  church,  who  should  accompany  him  to  Jerusalem 
and  hand  them  over  to  the  elders  there.  This  method, 
therefore,  was  not  precisely  that  which  is  usually  called  the 
weekly  offering  among  us ;  for  it  was  not  a  public  giving  in 
connection  with  the  services  of  the  church,  but  a  private 
storing  at  home ;  and  I  cannot  help  observing  that  if  each 
of  us  were  to  have  in  his  closet  a  benevolent  fund,  to  which 

*  2  Cor.  viii.,  9.  t  i  Cor.  xvi.,  2.  t  Vol.  ii.,  p.  123. 


The  Doctrinal  Epistles.  345 

he  added  a  portion  every  Lord's-day,  and  the  whole  of  which 
he  regarded  as  God's,  while  he  accepted  for  himself  only 
the  responsibility  of  dividing  the  entire  amount  among  the 
various  objects  brought  before  him,  we  should  all  know  far 
more  than  we  do  now  of  the  luxury  of  giving. 

The  measures  which  Paul  took  for  the  administration  of 
these  funds  were  the  following :  Each  church  was  to  choose 
one  or  more  deputies  into  whose  hands  the  contributions 
were  to  be  placed,  and  the  whole  company  of  these  dele- 
gates were  to  go  with  Paul  to  Jerusalem.  The  apostle  was 
exceedingly  guarded  in  this  matter.  It  was  not  enough  that 
he  should  not  be  accused  of  any  malfeasance ;  it  was  indis- 
pensable that  he  should  not  be  even  suspected,  and  so,  as 
far  as  appears,  he  never  touched  the  smallest  coin  that  was 
collected  ;  for  thus  he  whites  :*  "  Whomsoever  ye  shall  ap- 
prove by  your  letters,  them  will  I  send  to  bring  your  liberal- 
ity unto  Jerusalem."  Accordingly,  in  the  names  mentioned 
in  the  section  of  history  now  before  us,t  we  have  represent- 
ative men  from  many  churches ;  while  Luke,  who  joined  the 
band  again  on  the  return  of  Paul  from  Corinth  to  Philippi, 
was  most  probably  the  deputy  from  Philippi. 

These  details  are  something  more  than  interesting.  They 
are  exceedingly  instructive,  and  furnish  us  with  an  example 
of  benevolence,  of  system,  and  of  wisdom,  which  we  may 
profitably  follow. 

But,  returning  from  this  digression,  and  resuming  the  his- 
tory of  the  apostle,  we  find  that  after  Titus  had  gone  to 
Corinth  with  the  second  epistle,  Paul  went — so  we  read  in 
Acts  XX.,  2 — "  over  those  parts  and  gave  them  much  exhor- 
tation ;"  that  is  to  say,  he  visited  once  more  Thessalonica 
and  Berea,  and  exhorted  the  churches  in  these  cities.  But 
he  also  widened  his  sphere  of  operations,  so  as  to  include 

t  Acts  XX.,  4. 


346  Paul  the  Missionary. 

places  which  he  had  never  before  visited.  We  infer  so 
much  from  a  statement  made  by  him  a  few  months  later,  in 
his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,*  to  the  effect  that  "from  Jeru- 
salem, and  round  about  unto  Illyricum,  he  had  fully  preach- 
ed the  gospel  of  Christ."  Now,  Illyricum  was  the  province 
next  to  Macedonia ;  and  the  only  opportunity  he  had  of  en- 
tering that  district  prior  to  his  writing  of  the  letter  in  which 
the  above  statement  occurs,  was  that  of  the  interval  between 
his  landing  in  Macedonia  and  visiting  Greece  as  here  re- 
corded. 

After  this  tour,  having  allowed,  perhaps,  three  months  to 
elapse  from  the  date  of  his  second  letter  to  the  Christians 
there,  he  went  to  Corinth.  He  anticipated  some  little,  un- 
pleasantness on  his  arrival,  and  was  prepared  to  deal  firm- 
ly and  faithfully,  if  need  be  also  sternly,  with  the  disaffected 
party ;  but  we  are  not  anywhere  informed  of  the  issue,  and 
cannot  tell  whether  his  presentiment  was  verified  or  falsi- 
fied by  the  results.  If,  however,  we  may  take  the  letter  of 
Clement,  written  many  years  after,  as  giving  an  accurate  de- 
scription of  the  state  of  the  church  at  this  time,  we  may  be- 
lieve that  the  wise  fortitude  and  Christian  tact  of  the  apos- 
tle were  of  great  service  in  restoring  its  peace  and  main- 
taining its  purity.  These  are  Clement's  words  :  "  Who  that 
visited  you  did  not  admire  your  sober  and  gentle  piety  in 
Christ  ?  for  ye  did  all  things  without  respect  of  persons, 
and  walked  in  the  laws  of  God,  obeying  those  who  were  set 
over  you  ;  and  ye  were  all  humble-minded,  subjecting  your- 
selves rather  than  subjecting  others.  Thus  a  deep  and 
blessed  calm  was  diffused  over  all,  and  an  insatiable  long- 
ing for  well-doing,  and  a  plentiful  outpouring  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  All  faction  and  all  schism  was  detestable  in  your 
sight." 

*  Rom.  XV.,  19. 


The  Doctrinal  Epistles.  347 

But,  however  Paul  might  be  engaged  with  the  Corinthians, 
it  was,  according  to  the  belief  of  the  best  critics  in  their 
city,  and  at  this  time,  that  he  wrote  two  of  his  most  impor- 
tant letters.  Messengers  came  to  him  from  Galatia  detail- 
ing to  him  the  grievous  condition  of  the  churches  in  that 
province,  torn  as  they  were  by  dissensions  caused  by  the 
same  Judaizing  emissaries  who  had  troubled  Corinth,  and 
he  at  once  transmitted  to  them  that  epistle  with  which  we 
are  all  so  familiar. 

Struck  out  of  him  by  his  discovery  of  the  fact  that  every- 
where the  enemies  of  the  Gospel  were  on  his  track  seeking 
to  undo  his  work,  this  letter  has  a  vehemence  which  is  pe- 
culiar to  itself.  Beginning  with  an  autobiographic  vindica- 
tion of  his  apostolic  position,  he  passes  on  through  the  his- 
tory of  his  contention  with  Peter  to  a  close  and  compact 
argument  designed  to  prove  that,  by  the  deeds  of  the  law, 
no  flesh  living  can  be  justified.  Then  he  proceeds  to  un- 
fold the  way  of  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ.  He  de- 
clares that,  inasmuch  as  the  Gospel  was  virtually  preached 
to  Abraham,  the  law  of  Moses  could  not  annul  it ;  and  he 
concludes  with  a  series  of  pertinent,  practical  appeals.  As 
we  can  trace  the  marks  of  volcanic  fires  on  the  rocks  which 
some  great  convulsion  has  upheaved,  so  we  can  clearly  dis- 
cern the  effects  of  Paul's  inner  feelings  in  the  style  and  ar- 
gument which  he  has  here  employed.  Indignation  at  the 
troublers ;  sorrow,  surprise,  and  displeasure  at  the  conduct 
of  his  old  friends  ;  yearnings  after  their  return,  interblended 
with  dissatisfaction  at  their  departure  from  the  faith ;  scorn 
at  the  accusations  which  had  been  brought  against  himself, 
and  deepest  anguish  at  the  dishonor  which  had  been  done 
to  Christ — all  these  emotions  were  simultaneously  at  work 
within  him,  and  we  can  see  the  traces  of  them  all  in  the 
letter  itself.  The  "  arrows  of  its  thoughts  "  are  "  headed 
and  winged  with  flam.e."     It  is  characterized  by  passionate 


34S  Paul  the  Missionarv. 

energy,  scathing  invective,  rapid  movement,  parental  ten- 
derness, and  condensed  power.  It  is  logic  on  fire,  and  its 
arguments  scorch  those  who  refuse  to  be  convinced.  As 
Douglas  of  Cavers  has  said,  "  The  mind  of  Paul  [in  it]  is 
rapid  as  the  lightning,  and  yet  strikes,  by  its  zigzag  impetu- 
osity, every  projecting  point  that  approaches  its  path ;  and, 
still  undelayed  by  these  deflections,  attains  instantaneously 
the  goal."*  The  sternness  of  its  reproof,  however,  as  many 
of  its  passages  attest,  is  but  the  other  side  of  love  ;  and  even 
its  personal  references  are  to  be  accounted  for  by  his  long- 
ing for  the  return  of  those  who  had  gone  back,  by  his  zeal 
for  the  purity  of  the  Gospel,  and  by  his  enthusiastic  devo- 
tion to  the  cause  of  Christian  liberty. 

About  the  same  time  he  wrote  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
whose  origin  may  be  thus  accounted  for.  He  found  in  the 
neighboring  church  of  Cenchrea  a  devout  w^oman — Phoebe 
by  name — who  w^as  about  to  proceed  to  Rome  on  some  busi- 
ness of  her  own  jt  and  he  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity 
to  send  with  her  a  letter  to  the  Christians  of  that  city.  It 
is  true  that  he  had  not  himself  founded  the  church  in  the 
metropolis,  and  indeed  had  not,  up  till  this  time,  visited  it; 
but,  as  we  may  see  from  the  numerous  salutations  with  which 
the  epistle  concludes,  he  had  many  friends  among  its  mem- 
bers, and  we  need  not  wonder  that,  after  the  news  which  he 
had  just  heard  from  Galatia,  he  was  exceedingly  desirous  to 
save  them  from  the  danger  of  being  imposed  on  by  the  ad- 
versaries who  had  wrought  such  havoc  elsewhere.  Accord- 
ingly he  sent  them  that  letter,  wherein  argument  and  expe- 
rience, instruction  and  exhortation,  doxology  and  benedic- 
tion, are  so  admirably  interblended.  It  may  be  regarded  as 
the  elaboration  of  the  argument  which  is  briefly  epitomized 


*  Quoted  by  Dr.  John  Brown,  in  his  "Discourses  on  the  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians,"  p.  lo.  t  Rom.  xvi.,  i. 


The  Doctrinal  Epistles.  349 

in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians.     As  Lightfoot  has  express- 
ed it  in  his  own  clear  -  cut  fashion,  "  In  the  Galatians  the 
apostle  flashes  out  in  indignant  remonstrance  the  first  eager 
thoughts  kindled  by  his  zeal  for  the  Gospel,  striking  sudden- 
ly against  a  stubborn  form  of  Judaism..     To  the  Romans  he 
writes  at  leisure,  under  no  pressure  of  circumstances,  in  the 
face  of  no  direct  antagonism,  explaining,  completing,  extend- 
ing the  teachings  of  the  earlier  letter,  by  giving  it  a  double 
edge  against  Jew  and  Gentile  alike."*     It  is  not  so  much  a 
letter  as  a  treatise ;  and  if  we  may  compare  inspired  pro- 
ductions after  such  a  lEashion,  we  may  say  that  it  is  the  most 
original  and  massive  of  the  apostolic  epistles.      It  has  at 
once  the  solidity  and  the  completeness  of  a  pyramid.    Look- 
ed at  from  afar,  it  seems  to  be  smooth  and  inaccessible  in 
its  outline  ;  but  when  we  approach  it,  we  discover  a  series 
of  successive   steps  up  which  we  may  climb  with  a  little 
effort,  and  after  we  have  reached  the  summit  a  whole  land- 
scape of  truth  is  unfolded  to  our  gaze.     Its  logic  is  relent- 
less, as  it  concludes  all  men  under  sin ;  but  its  love  is  lim- 
itless, as  it  declares  that  we  are  justified  freely  by  God's 
grace  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus.    What 
a  depth  of  experience  does  the  seventh  chapter  describe 
as  we  hear  him  cry,  "  O  wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall 
deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death  ?"     How  like  the 
lark,  again,  he   ascends  in  the  eighth  chapter,  singing  as 
he  soars  until  he  reaches  the  very  gate  of  heaven !     What 
wisdom  he  evinces  in  the  handling  of  the  deep  things  of 
God's  government !      And  what  a  blending  of  love  with 
faithfulness  there  is  in  the  manifold  exhortations  with  which 
he  concludes!     Truly  a  marvellous  and  unique  epistle,  to 
be  compared  to  no  other  literary  production,  but  standing 
out  in  solitary  grandeur  like  some  Gibraltar  rock,  with  its 


*  Lightfoot,  on  "  The  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,"  p.  49- 


350  Paul  the  Missionary. 

galleries  and  batteries  fortified  for  the  defence  of  a  whole 
continent  of  truth. 

After  three  months'  labors  in  Achaia,  and  just  on  the  eve 
of  the  Jewish  passover,  Paul  prepared  to  leave  Corinth  ;  but 
learning  that  a  plot  had  been  concocted  to  take  away  his 
life,  he  changed  his  route  at  the  eleventh  hour,  and  instead 
of  going  directly  by  sea  to  Syria,  he  went  round  through 
Macedonia  to  Philippi,  whence  he  sent  his  companions  for- 
ward to  Troas,  but  he  himself  stayed  with  Luke  for  a  few 
days  longer.  Then, taking  with  him  "the  beloved  physician" 
— from  whom  henceforth  he  was  scarcely  separated  until 
his  death — he  took  ship,  and  after  a  tedious  voyage  of  five 
days  he  joined  his  friends  at  Troas.  Here  he  remained  for 
seven  days,  the  last  of  which  was  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
hallowed  by  its  association  with  the  resurrection  of  the  Lord. 
Even  at  that  early  date,  the  custom  had  begun  for  believers 
to  assemble  on  that  clay  for  the  observance  of  the  Lord's- 
supper  j  and  on  this  occasion  Paul  preached.  We  know 
his  theme  would  centre  in  Christ,  but  the  circumstance  that 
his  discourse  was  a  parting  one  filled  his  heart  with  tender- 
ness and  affection,  and  he  felt  as  if  he  could  not  leave  off. 
He  "  continued  his  speech  until  midnight ;"  and  out  of  that 
came  an  accident  which  might  have  had  a  fatal  termination. 
The  congregation  was  assembled  in  an  upper  room.  There 
was  a  large  company,  and  there  were  many  lamps.  This 
made  it  needful  to  open  the  windows,  or  lattices,  for  ventila- 
tion. On  the  sill  of  one  of  these  windows,  which  was  not 
much  higher  than  the  floor  of  the  room,  a  young  man  named 
Eutychus  sat.  Under  the  influence  of  the  glare  of  the  lights 
and  the  poison  in  the  atmosphere,  he  went  to  sleep,  and  fell 
into  the  court  from  the  third  loft,  or  story,  of  the  house. 
When  they  lifted  him  up  he  seemed  dead ;  and  my  impres- 
sion from  the  narrative  is  that  he  was  actually  dead.  But 
Paul  went  down,  stretched  himself  upon  the  body  after  the 


The  Doctrinal  Epistles.  351 

manner  of  Elijah,  and  declared  that  his  life  was  in  him ; 
then,  returning  to  the  upper  room,  he  resumed  his  discourse, 
which  continued  till  daybreak. 

In  the  morning  his  companions  took  ship,  and,  rounding 
a  promontory,  came  to  Assos  ;  but  Paul,  wishing  perhaps  a 
lonely  walk,  that  he  might  commune  with  his  own  heart  and 
have  fellowship  with  his  Lord,  went  the  twenty-three  miles 
on  foot ;  and  being  taken  on  board  by  his  friends  again, 
he  coasted  along  first  to  Mitylene,  and  thence  by  Samos  to 
Miletus,  where  for  the  present  we  must  leave  him. 

Reviewing,  for  practical  purposes,  the  course  of  our  ex- 
position this  evening,  we  note,  in  the  first  place,  Paul's  con- 
cern for  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  He  would 
let  nothing  interfere  with  that.  He  proclaimed  salvation 
through  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  pronounced  in  his 
Galatian  letter  a  solemn  anathema  on  all  who  should  at- 
tempt to  overlay,  or  tamper  with,  or  destroy  the  precious 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith.  Now,  the  danger  in  our 
days,  unless  I  greatly  misread  the  signs  of  the  times,  is  of  a 
similar  sort.  In  our  zeal  for  liberality  we  are  becoming  lat- 
itudinarian,  and  forgetting  that  there  is  a  point  where,  para- 
doxical as  it  may  sound,  intolerance  is  necessary  even  in  the 
interests  of  freedom.  Paul's  letters  to  the  Galatians  and 
the  Romans  were  written  for  the  preservation  of  liberty;  for 
in  one  of  them  he  says,  "  Stand  fast,  therefore,  in  the  liberty 
wherewith  Christ  hath  made  us  free  ;"  and  yet,  for  the  very 
purpose  of  maintaining  that  liberty,  he  hurled  his  anathemas 
at  the  Judaizers'  heads.  Let  us  not  forget  that  the  Gospel 
has  its  intolerance  as  well  as  its  toleration.  We  may,  and 
we  should,  exercise  the  fullest  forbearance  in  minor  matters, 
but  there  must  be  no  toleration  of  treason  to  the  Cross,  for 
the  toleration  of  such  treason  is  always  treachery.  I  say 
not,  indeed,  that  all  such  errors  should  be  put  down  by  force 
— God  forbid ;  but  I  do  say  that  they  should  be  denounced 


352  Paul  the  Missionary. 

by  every  loyal  servant  of  the  Lord,  and  that  the  Church 
should  absolve  itself  from  all  complicity  with  the  errorists. 
And  though  there  are  many  who  would  cry  out  against  such 
a  course  as  bigoted,  I  would  rather,  even  in  the  interests  of 
freedom  itself,  have — if  you  choose  to  call  it  so — the  bigot- 
ry of  Paul  than  the  indifference  of  him  who  counts  nothing 
essential,  and  who  is  everything  by  turns  and  nothing  long. 
Luther  was  no  foe  to  freedom,  but  indeed  its  greatest  mod- 
ern pioneer ;  and  in  the  proportion  in  which,  like  him,  we 
are  intolerant  of  everything  that  compromises  the  honor  of 
Christ  or  the  doctrine  of  his  cross,  we  shall  conserve  and 
widen  the  liberty  which  he  did  so  much  to  secure.  So,  let 
us  raise  anew  the  shout  of  Paul,  making  it  our  motto,  not 
for  the  moment  of  our  brief  enthusiasm  merely,  but  for  all 
our  lives,  "  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory  save  in  the  cross 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  the  world  is  crucified 
unto  me,  and  I  unto  the  world." 

But  we  note,  secondly,  Paul's  zeal  for  the  purity  of  the 
Christian  life.  At  first  sight  it  might  appear  that  the  doc- 
trine of  salvation  by  grace  through  faith  without  the  deeds 
of  the  law  would  loosen  the  bonds  of  morality;  and, indeed, 
as  we  may  see  from  the  argument  in  the  letter  to  the  Romans, 
it  had  been  alleged  that  his  teachings  would  lead  men  to 
say,  "  Let  us  sin,  that  grace  may  abound."  But  such  a  per- 
version of  his  instructions  is  warmly  repudiated  by  the  apos- 
tle, and  he  shows  most  clearly,  not  only  by  the  argument  of 
his  sixth  and  seventh  chapters  in  that  letter,  but  also  by  his 
dealings  with  the  Corinthians  concerning  one  who  had  been 
guilty  of  an  abominable  offence,  and  by  the  practical  pre- 
cepts in  which  all  his  epistles  abound,  that  he  is  not  opposed 
to  good  works,  but  indeed  an  ardent  advocate  for  them  when 
they  are  put  in  their  right  place.  He  insists,  however,  that 
their  right  place  is  not  the  meritorious  ground  of  our  ac- 
ceptance with  God,  but  the   grateful  outcome  of  our  love 


The  Doctrinal  Epistles,  353 

to  God,  who  has  ah-eady  accepted  us  for  Christ's  sake.  So 
regarded,  he  is  "  zealous  of  good  works,"  and  uses  every 
proper  motive  to  stimulate  us  in  the  performance  of  them. 
He  declares  that  we  are  to  be  justified  by  faith  alone ;  but 
then  he  is  careful  to  bring  out  that  the  faith  which  justifies 
is  a  faith  which  worketh  by  love.  And  in  this  we  have  the 
principle  of  harmony  between  him  and  James.  Luther,  in- 
deed, could  never  be  persuaded  to  accept  the  epistle  of 
James  as  inspired,  because  it  seemed  to  him  to  run  counter 
to  the  doctrine  of  Paul ;  and  he  called  it,  therefore,  an  epis- 
tle of  straw.  But  that  was  because  the  valiant  reformer 
did  not  go  quite  round  the  subject ;  for  had  he  done  so,  he 
would  have  seen  that,  while  Paul  dwells  mainly  on  the  ground 
of  the  sinner's  justification,  and  affirms  that  works  can  never 
furnish  that,  James  is  arguing  on  the  nature  of  faith,  and  al- 
leges that  the  faith  which  justifies  is  not  a  mere  make-be- 
lieve, but  a  living  thing  whose  vitality  is  shown  by  its  works. 
Paul  says  we  are  justified  by  faith,  and  James  contends  that 
the  faith  which  justifies  must  not  be  a  dead  thing — a  faith 
without  works — but  a  faith  shown  by  works ;  and  for  that, 
as  we  have  seen,  Paul  is  as  zealous  as  James.  In  short,  to 
borrow  the  admirable  illustration  of  Arnot,  the  two  apostles 
are  contending  with  different  antagonists.  They  are  like 
two  men  set  upon  at  once  by  assailants  from  opposite  di- 
rections. Thus  they  stand  back  to  back,  and  strike  out  in 
opposite  ways,  but  they  are  themselves  in  perfect  harmony ; 
and  the  Church  is  safe  only  when  she  teaches  with  Paul, 
and  works  with  James.  So  let  us  be  earnest  in  our  cultiva- 
tion of  holiness,  that  we  may  show  forth  the  praises  of  Him 
who  hath  called  us  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous  light. 
Finally,  we  cannot  help  touching  on  Paul's  earnestness 
in  the  development  of  liberality.  He  was  not  ashamed  to 
speak  about  a  contribution,  and  he  brought  the  highest  mo- 
tives and  the  shrewdest  wisdom  to  bear  upon  this  matter. 
Would  that  he  were  among  us  again,  to  instil  into  us  the 


354  Paul  the  Missionary. 

great  principles  concerning  giving  which  he  has  laid  down 
in  his  letters ;  for  the  Church  has  never  yet  developed,  to 
any  proper  extent,  its  money  power,  and  its  failure  in  that 
respect  helps  very  largely  to  account  for  the  comparatively 
small  progress  it  has.  made  in  the  evangelization  of  the 
world.  In  this  city  alone  there  are  every  year  expended  on 
the  single  article  of  strong  drink  somewhere  about  fifty  mill- 
ions of  dollars — a  sum  which  is  far  in  excess  of  the  aggre- 
gate annual  income  of  all  the  great  missionary  societies  in 
the  land  ;  and  yet  when  an  appeal  is  made  for  contributions 
in  our  churches,  the  members  count  it  an  affliction  instead 
of  a  privilege,  and  give  too  often  grumblingly  and  by  con- 
straint. Now,  this  would  not  be  the  case  if  we  had  a  suffi- 
cient realization  of  our  obligation  to  Christ  for  our  person- 
al salvation,  and  if  we  adopted  some  system  for  the  regu- 
lation of  our  gifts.  We  look  upon  the  whole  matter  of 
making  contributions  as  if  it  were  a  merely  optional  thing ; 
whereas  in  truth  it  is  required  of  us  by  the  most  sacred  ob- 
ligations, and  ought  to  be  regarded  by  us  as  one  of  the  reg- 
ular and  normal  forms  of  Christian  activity.  Nay,  more,  we 
cannot  forget  that  throughout  the  letters  to  which  this  even- 
ing I  have  been  referring,  Paul  speaks  of  the  contribution 
to  the  Jewish  saints  precisely  as  he  speaks  of  the  Lord's- 
supper — as  a  communion.  It  ranks  thus,  in  his  regard,  as 
on  a  level  with  the  highest  form  of  Christian  worship  ;  and 
they  who  disregard  it  are  dishonoring  Christ,  while  at  the 
same  time  they  are  depriving  themselves  of  one  of  the  great- 
est privileges,  for  "  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." 
Brethren,  let  us  think  on  these  things,  and  so  long  as  we 
are  receiving,  let  us  be  willing  to  communicate,  remember- 
ing these  verses  of  accumulated  universalities  :  "  God  is  able 
to  make  all  grace  abound  toward  you  ;  that  ye,  always  hav- 
ing all  sufficiency  in  all  things,  may  abound  to  every  good 
work.  .  .  .  Being  enriched  in  everything  to  all  bountifulness, 
which  causeth  through  us  thanksgiving  to  God." 


XIX. 

THE  PARTING  ADDRESS. 

Acts  xx.,  17-38. 

MILETUS,  once  the  capital  of  Ionia,  was  situated  on 
the  Latmian  Gulf,  opposite  to,  and  in  a  direction  due 
west  from  the  mouth  of  the  winding  Meander.  It  was  about 
thirty  -  six  miles  from  Ephesus ;  and  though  the  filling  up 
of  its  harbor  by  the  soil  washed  down  by  the  river  had 
greatly  interfered  with  its  commerce,  it  was  still,  in  the  apos- 
tle's day,  a  place  of  some  importance.  As  he  coasted  along 
from  Chios  to  Trogyllium,  and  passed  the  mouth  of  the 
Cayster,  it  was  impossible  for  Paul  to  forget  the  friends 
whom  he  had  left  in  Ephesus  ;  but  he  could  not  stay  to 
visit  them  then,  for  he  had  resolved  to  reach  Jerusalem  be- 
fore Pentecost.  Finding,  however,  that  the  ship  had  to  re- 
main at  Miletus  for  a  few  days,  he  sent  to  Ephesus  and  re- 
quested the  elders  of  the  church  there  to  come  to  him. 
They  gladly  responded  to  his  invitation,  and  when  they  had 
come,  he  delivered  to  them  the  address  which  is  to  form 
the  subject  for  exposition  this  evening.  Luke  seems  to 
have  preserved  it  for  us  in  the  very  words  in  which  it  was 
originally  given  ;  for  we  find  in  it  turns  of  expression  and 
modes  of  thought  which  we  frequently  come  upon  in  the 
apostle's  letters.  But,  altogether  apart  from  such  coinci- 
dences with  his  other  productions,  it  has  a  quality  which  is 
peculiar  to  itself.  For  depth  of  pathos  and  fervor  of  appeal, 
it  seems  to  me  to  be  well-nigh  unrivalled  even  in  Holy  Writ. 
It  quivers  all  through  with  emotion.     There  is  love  in  every 


356  Paul  the  Missionary. 

sentence,  and  a  tear  in  every  tone.  We  cannot  read  it  with- 
out a  choking  utterance  and  a  moistened  eye  ;  and  when  we 
reach  its  conclusion,  we  do  not  wonder  that  those  to  whom 
it  was  first  addressed  "wept  sore,  and  fell  upon  his  neck 
and  kissed  him."  Indeed,  such  is  our  appreciation  of  its 
exquisite  tenderness,  that  it  seems  to  us  to  be  almost  too 
sacred  for  exposition  ;  and  we  fear  to  say  anything  in  illus- 
tration or  enforcement  of  its  meaning,  lest  we  should  de- 
stroy the  impression  which  the  mere  perusal  of  it  must  al- 
ways produce.  But  the  topics  which  it  suggests  are  so  im- 
portant, and  the  example  which  it  gives  is  so  sublime,  that 
we  are  constrained,  even  at  the  hazard  which  we  have  men- 
tioned, to  enter  somewhat  fully  on  its  consideration. 

It  may  be  arranged  under  four  divisions,  namely,  a  retro- 
spect of  his  own  labors  at  Ephesus ;  a  prospect  of  the  trials 
and  difficulties  that  lay  before  him ;  an  exhortation  to  the 
elders  in  regard  both  to  themselves  and  to  the  church  un- 
der their  care ;  and  a  commendation  of  them  to  God  and 
to  the  word  of  his  grace.  But  though  these  divisions  are 
clearly  enough  marked,  they  are  not  thoroughly  maintained. 
You  cannot  confine  emotion  between  any  methodical  lines. 
It  is  not  like  a  canal  which  is  capable  of  embankment,  and 
may  be  carried  forward  in  straight  lines  along  a  carefully 
surveyed  route,  but  rather  like  a  river  which  runs  now  with 
rapid  current,  now  with  deep  and  noiseless  flow,  and  which 
ever  and  anon  turns  back  upon  itself  in  meandering  "links," 
while  yet  its  course  in  the  main  is  onward.  It  will  not  be 
possible,  therefore,  while  observing  the  order  of  topics  which 
I  have  announced,  to  take  the  verses  in  their  original  se- 
quence; yet  I  may  be  able  so  to  present  to  you  the  sub- 
stance of  the  discourse  itself,  that  you  may  see  v^ery  deeply 
into  the  heart  of  him  who  spoke  it. 

Let  us  take  then,  first  of  all,  his  retrospect  of  his  Ephe- 
sian  ministry ;  and  here  I  place  in  the  fore-front  his  refer- 


The  Parting  Address. 


357 


ences  to  the  character  of  his  teachings.  They  are  such  as 
these :  "  I  have  gone  among  you  preaching  the  kingdom  of 
God ;"  "  I  have  taught  you  publicly,  testifying  to  the  Jews 
and  also  to  the  Greeks,  repentance  toward  God,  and  faith 
toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  And  in  speaking  of  the 
great  design  of  his  ministr}^,  he  sums  it  up  as  consisting  in 
this  :  "To  testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God."  Thus  he 
declared  the  good  news  of  God's  love  as  righteously  shown 
to  sinners  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  he  proclaimed 
that  men  should  change  their  minds  toward  God,  and  in  or- 
der to  move  them  to  that,  he  set  before  them  the  evidence 
of  God's  love  to  them,  in  the  gift  of  his  Son  for  their  salva- 
tion. In  this  way,  by  bringing  them  to  faith  toward  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  he  led  them  also  to  repentance  toward 
God ;  and  v;hen  they  thus  returned  to  him,  he  taught  them 
that  they  entered  into  that  kingdom  of  which  he  is  the 
head,  and  which  is  "  not  meat  nor  drink,  but  righteousness 
and  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  These  were  the 
truths  the  preaching  of  which,  being  accompanied  by  the 
"  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power,"  effected  such 
results  that  sorcerers  burnt  their  books  of  magic,  and  re- 
nounced their  deeds  of  deceit ;  and  gave  such  a  blow  to 
idolatry  as  filled  Demetrius  and  his  craftsmen  with  alarm. 
I  do  not  mean  to  allege,  indeed,  that  for  three  years  his  dis- 
courses were  nothing  but  a  continuous  repetition  of  the  fact 
that  salvation  comes  to  men  through  faith  in  Him  who  hath 
redeemed  us  with  his  precious  blood,  but  rather  that  he 
sought  always  to  unfold  the  principles  which  underlie  the 
Cross  of  Christ,  and  to  apply  them  to  the  circumstances  of 
his  hearers.  He  did  not  restrict  himself  to  certain  conven- 
tional forms  of  speech,  or  ring  the  changes  on  some  recog- 
nized formulae  of  doctrine ;  but  whatever  he  touched,  he 
touched  with  the  Cross,  and  so  connected  it  with  Him  who 
died  thereon,  as  to  bring  his  love  as  a  constraining  motive, 


358  Paul  the  Missionary. 

either  for  its  repudiation  as  dishonoring  to  him,  or  for  its 
observance  as  tending  to  his  glory.  Thus  the  doctrinal 
and  the  practical  were  inseparably  interblended ;  and  the 
Christ  whom  he  preached  was  the  Life  and  the  Light  of 
men. 

In  this  presentation  of  the  Saviour  the  apostle  was  con- 
spicuous for  his  tenderness.  He  served  the  Lord  among 
the  Ephesians  "with  many  tears ;"  and  again,  "he  ceased 
not  to  warn  every  one  night  and  day  with  tears."  Dauntless 
hero  as  he  was  when  he  needed  to  stand  forth  as  the  cham- 
pion of  the  truth,  his  heart  was  yet  full  of  compassion  for 
the  ignorant  and  them  that  were  out  of  the  way.  But  his 
tenderness  was  no  mere  sentiment,  for  it  was  the  result  of 
his  faith ;  and  having  learned  the  value  of  his  own  soul,  he 
was  eager  to  keep  others  from  that  shipwreck  from  which 
there  is  no  salvage.  Thus  his  very  love  to  men  stimulated 
him  to  be  faithful  with  them.  Hear  him  again :  "  I  kept 
back  nothing  that  was  profitable  unto  you."  ''  I  take  you 
to  record  this  day  that  I  am  pure  from  the  blood  of  all  men. 
For  I  have  not  shunned  to  declare  unto  you  all  the  counsel 
of  God."  "  I  ceased  not  to  warn  every  one."  To  a  super- 
ficial observer  it  might  seem  that  fidelity  and  tenderness  are 
incompatible  with  each  other;  but  when  we  go  deeper  down 
we  discover  that  in  the  noblest  natures  the  one  is  the  root 
out  of  which  the  other  springs,  and  when  the  two  exist  to- 
gether, the  combination  is  as  beautiful  as  it  is  effective. 
With  most  of  us  it  is  either  all  tenderness  or  all  sternness ; 
but  when  the  most  awful  denunciations  of  sin  come  from 
one  who  is  known  to  be  gentle  and  affectionate  in  his  char- 
acter, there  is  a  power  in  them  which  no  trick  of  elocution 
can  simulate ;  and  when  the  kindest  expressions  come  from 
one  whose  uncompromising  principle  will  not  let  him  sacri- 
fice truth  to  amiability,  there  is  a  genuineness  about  them 
which  lifts  them  as  high  above  the  conventionalities  of  po- 


The  Parting  Address.  359 

liteness  as  heaven  is  above  earth.  But  with  these  apparently 
opposite  qualities  there  was  combined  in  our  apostle  a  deep 
humility;  for  he  tells  these  elders  that  he  "served  the  Lord 
with  all  humility  of  mind."  He  did  not  work  for  his  own 
glory.  He  sought  no  honor  or  place  or  preferment  for  him- 
self. There  was  in  his  heart  no  jealousy  of  others;  nor  could 
any  one  charge  him  with  seeking  to  depreciate  any  of  his 
fellow-laborers,  or  grudging  them  the  recognition  that  was 
their  due.  Of  course  the  man  who  said  to  Titus,  "  Let  no 
man  despise  thee,"  would  not  allow  others  to  trample  upon 
himself.  But  he  never  set  up  the  honor  of  men  as  an  end 
in  itself ;  and  he  was  not  always  looking  after  his  dignity. 
He  never  cared  to  speak  about  himself  save  when  his  own 
vindication  was  essential  for  the  defence  of  the  truth  ;  for 
that  with  him  was  uppermost,  and  everything  was  subordi- 
nated by  him  to  his  service  of  the  Lord. 

Again,  we  must  not  fail  to  note  the  industry  of  the  apos- 
tle's Ephesian  pastorate.  He  "  ceased  not  to  warn  every 
one  night  and  day  with  tears."  He  taught  them  not  only 
publicly,  but  "from  house  to  house."  He  studied  the  case 
of  each  individual,  and  went  to  each  with  words  in  season. 
Without  intermission  and  without  reluctance  he  labored  on 
for  the  space  of  three  years,  that  he  might  keep  himself  pure 
from  the  blood  of  them  all.  Thus  his  love  for  souls  was  the 
mainspring  of  his  assiduity,  as  it  was  also  of  his  faithfulness  ; 
and  as  we  read  the  record  of  this  incessant  toil,  we  are  con- 
strained to  say  how  rarely  we  have  seen  on  earth  a  ministry 
— I  will  not  say  equal  to,  but  vv^orthy  to  be  put  in  compari- 
son with  this  of  Paul  at  Ephesus.  Now  and  then  we  come 
upon  a  Chrysostom,  a  Bernard,  a  Calvin,  or  a  Baxter,  who 
may  almost  bear  to  be  placed  beside  the  great  apostle ;  but 
the  majority  even  of  the  most  eminent  pastors  are  put  to 
shame  by  the  record  of  this  ministry.  "Therefore  watch, 
and  remember,  that  by  the  space  of  three  years  I  ceased  not 

16 


360  Paul  the  Missionarv. 

to  warn  every  one  night  and  day  with  tears."  Well  says 
the  good  Adolphe  Monod,  "  I  read  this  verse  again  and 
again.  I  am  never  weary  of  recurring  to  it.  In  these  tears 
of  love  I  see  the  Christian  to  the  very  centre  of  his  being ; 
I  perceive  the  apostle  to  the  very  end  of  his  career.  '  By 
the  space  of  three  years  I  ceased  not  to  warn  every  one  of 
you  night  and  day  with  tears.'  What  a  description  !  There 
is  not  a  feature  in  it  which  does  not  tell.  'Three  years, 
without  losing  even  one  of  the  days  which  he  had  spent  at 
Ephesus  from  the  beginning  of  his  sojourn  until  the  end — so 
much  for  the  time  !  '  Night  and  day,'  refreshed  or  fatigued, 
in  safety  or  in  peril,  in  season  or  out  of  season — so  much  for 
opportunities  !  '  I  ceased  not ;'  without  relaxation  or  inter- 
ruption— so  much  for  perseverance  !  '  Every  one,'  not  only 
of  the  elders  of  the  church  at  Ephesus,  but  of  its  members — 
so  much  for  persons !  '  With  tears ' — so  much  for  charity  !"* 
As  we  linger  thus  over  the  touching  details,  may  the  Holy 
Spirit  quicken  us,  and  dispose  us  to  the  same  unreserved 
consecration  of  our  lives  to  the  work  of  Christ !  Oh  for  the 
living  fire  from  the  altar,  that  we  may  have  enkindled  with- 
in us  the  zeal  of  Paul  and  of  his  nobler  Lord,  who  said,  "  I 
must  work  the  works  of  him  that  sent  me  while  it  is  day : 
the  night  cometh  when  no  man  can  work." 

But  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  heroism  of  the  apostle's 
ministry.  He  had  "  trials  which  befell  him  by  the  lying 
in  wait  of  the  Jews."  He  labored  constantly  with  his  life 
in  peril.  Repeatedly  have  we  seen  how  he  was  assailed  by 
the  enemies  of  the  Cross  of  Christ;  and  the  graphic  account 
which  Luke  has  given  us  of  the  Ephesian  riot  enables  us 
to  understand  the  reference  which  he  has  here  made  to  the 
dangers  to  which  he  was  exposed.  Besides,  we  must  not 
forget  that  it  was  during  his  residence  in  Ephesus  that  he 

*  '*  St.  Paul,"  by  Adolphe  Monod,  as  before,  pp.  58,  59. 


The  Parting  Address.  361 

wrote  the  letter  in  which  these  words  occur :  "  Why  stand 
we  in  jeopardy  every  hour  ?"  "  I  die  daily ;"  and  again, 
"  After  the  manner  of  men  I  have  fought  with  beasts  at 
Ephesus."'*  Now,  whether  we  understand  this  fighting  with 
beasts  literally,  or  take  it  as  a  figurative  description  of  the 
conflicts  with  adversaries  in  which  he  was  engaged,  there  is 
enough  in  it  to  indicate  the  sort  of  antagonism  which  he  was 
called  to  meet.  Nor  was  it  only  from  open  attacks  like  that 
which  Demetrius  headed  that  he  was  in  danger.  The  Jews 
were  plotting  against  him  after  their  stealthy  fashion,  and 
he  knew  not  when  or  where  they  might  spring  a  mine  for 
his  destruction;  yetjie  held  on  at  his  work,  not  needlessly 
provoking  his  adversaries,  nor  timidly  neglecting  his  duties 
on  their  account,  but  calmly  prosecuting  his  steady  round 
of  labor,  not  quite  as  if  they  were  not  there,  but  rather  in 
the  consciousness  that  there  was  with  him  One  who  was 
mightier  by  far  than  all  they  that  were  against  him,  and  in 
the  faith  that  there  was  before  him  a  "  crown  of  righteous- 
ness that  fadeth  not  away." 

Once  more,  we  mark  the  disinterestedness  of  Paul's  pas- 
torate. He  sought  no  earthly  property  or  worldly  gain 
from  all  his  labors.  His  own  hands  during  these  years  had 
ministered  to  his  necessities,  and  he  could  say,  "  I  have  cov- 
eted no  man's  silver,  or  gold,  or  apparel."  To  the  Ephe- 
sians  as  to  the  Corinthians  he  might  have  written,  "  I  seek 
not  yours  but  you ;"  and  the  only  wealth  he  cared  for  was 
that  which  has  been  finely  called  "property  in  souls. "f  He 
had  the  right,  as  he  is  careful  to  let  the  Corinthians  know, 
to  receive  from  those  whom  he  taught  in  the  Word  a  suit- 
able maintenance  while  he  labored  among  them,  but  for  cer- 
tain local  and  temporary  reasons  he  chose  to  forego  that 


*  I  Cor.  XV.,  30-32. 

t  See  "Sermons  on  Living  Subjects,"  by  Horace  Bushnell,  D.D. 


362  Paul  the  Missionary. 

claim  at  Ephesus,  as  he  had  clone  before  at  Thessalonica  and 
Corinth ;  and  so,  throughout  those  three  years,  he  support- 
ed himself  by  his  trade  as  a  tent-maker.  Now,  if  to  all  his 
pastoral  labors  we  add  his  toil  at  his  craft,  we  shall  stand 
amazed  at  the  magnitude  of  the  work  he  did,  and  marvel 
how  one  body — and  that,  too,  frail  and  feeble  at  the  best — 
could  endure  it  all.  He  did  break  down,  as  we  saw  in  our 
last  discourse,  under  its  weight ;  and  for  so  much  of  his  toil 
as  contravened  the  laws  of  his  physical  nature,  he  is  not  to 
be  commended,  but  rather  to  be  blamed,  for  overwork  is  just 
as  wrong  in  a  Christian  apostle  as  in  an  ambitious  merchant, 
or  a  brain-burdened  editor,  or  a  benevolent  physician.  Yet 
we  may  not  forget  that  Paul's  self-sacrifice  was  for  the  high- 
est interests  of  others,  and  not  in  any  sense  for  his  own  ag- 
grandizement ',  and  there  seems  little  danger  in  these  days 
that  many  should  hurt  themselves  in  imitating  him.  In 
any  case,  the  bare  contemplation  of  such  a  devoted,  disinter- 
ested, and  industrious  life  puts  us  all  to  the  blush.  May  it 
also  quicken  us  to  renewed  energ}%  that  at  the  last  we,  too^ 
may  be  able  to  take  men  to  record  that  we  are  "pure  from 
their  blood." 

But  we  must  now  look  at  Paul's  prospect  of  the  trials  and 
difificulties  that  were  before  him,  and  the  expression  which 
he  gives  in  this  address  to  his  feelings  in  reference  to  them. 
He  describes  himself  as  going  "  bound  in  the  spirit  unto 
Jerusalem;"  and  though  it  is  uncertain  whether  his  words 
refer  to  the  Holy  Ghost  or  to  his  own  spirit,  yet  the  meaning 
in  either  case  must  be  that  his  present  journey  was  made 
under  a  sense  of  duty  so  strong  that  no  influence  whatever 
could  induce  him  to  give  it  up.  He  w^as  firmly  convinced 
that  it  would  be  wrong  for  him  not  to  go  at  this  time  to  Je- 
rusalem;  and  so,  without  conferring  "  with  flesh  and  blood," 
he  held  on  his  course.  And  yet,  from  sundry  intimations 
made  to  him,  he  was  led  to  anticipate  the  coming  upon  him 


The  Parting  Address.  363 

of  some  calamity,  for  he  adds,  "  Not  knowing  the  things 
that  shall  befall  me  there  :  save  that  the  Holy  Ghost  wit- 
nesseth  in  every  city,  saying  that  bonds  and  afflictions  abide 
me."  Certain  things  had  been  told  him  by  the  prophets 
in  some  of  the  churches  which  he  had  lately  visited,  even  as 
we  shall  find  that  similar  warnings  were  given  him  in  Tyre 
and  Csesarea ;  but  they  were  vague  and  indeterminate,  spec- 
ifying only  that  he  should  be  imprisoned.  They  did  not 
particularize  that  he  was  to  be  two  years  detained  at  Caes- 
area ;  that  he  was  to  be  almost  the  whole  of  another  year 
in  making  a  voyage  to  Rome ;  and  that  for  two  years  more 
he  was  to  be  in  bonds  in  the  imperial  city.  Enough  was 
told  him  to  put  him  on  his  guard ;  but  in  mercy  to  him  God 
did  not  permit  him  to  know  all,  lest  peradventure  he  might 
have  been  discouraged.  As  it  was,  there  was  no  misgiving 
in  his  soul,  for  he  says,  "  None  of  these  things  move  me, 
neither  count  I  my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I  might  fin- 
ish my  course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry,  which  I  have  re- 
ceived of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace 
of  God."  Sublime  words,  these  !  the  native  force  of  which 
would  only  be  marred  by  any  attempt  on  my  part  to  make 
them  plainer  than  they  are.  The  sneering  Satan  once  said, 
"  Skin  for  skin,  yea,  all  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his 
life ;"  and  some  have  done  him  the  honor  to  say  that  when 
he  so  spoke  he  told  the  truth  for  once.  But  they  are  wrong. 
He  has  found  out  very  frequently  since  that  there  are  some 
men  who  cannot  be  measured  by  his  bushel.  Even  Job 
would  not  purchase  his  life  by  cursing  God ;  and  the  three 
Hebrew  youths  who  braved  the  furnace  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
subordinated  their  love  of  life  to  their  allegiance  to  Jehovah. 
Daniel,  also,  counted  not  his  own  life  dear  unto  him,  that 
he  might  enjoy  the  privilege  of  prayer ;  and  to  this  illustri- 
ous roll  must  be  added  the  names  of  Peter  and  John  and 
Stephen  and  Paul,  and  "the  noble  army  of  martyrs"  in  every 


364  Paul  the  Missionary. 

generation.  These  all  recognized  that  there  is  something 
grander  and  more  glorious  by  far  than  the  life  of  the  body, 
and  were  content  to  let  their  earthly  existence  go  that  they 
might  keep  their  loyalty  to  their  Lord. 

Let  it  be  noted,  too,  that  this  declaration  of  Paul  comes 
out,  as  it  were,  incidentally.  It  has  no  special  emphasis 
given  to  it,  as  though  it  was  exceptional.  In  point  of  fact, 
it  was  not  out  of  the  common  course  of  his  utterances.  He 
was  always  on  the  altar ;  and  this  was  no  mere  phosphores- 
cence which  shone  for  a  moment  and  went  out  into  the  dark- 
ness, but  rather  the  steady  flame  of  that  fire  of  consecra- 
tion which  was  constantly  burning  within  him.  This  was  no 
mere  brilliant  rhetoric  struck  out  of  him  by  the  excitement 
of  the  hour,  and  characterized  by  exaggeration.  Rather  it 
was  but  the  reading  off  to  the  Ephesian  elders  of  that  pur- 
pose which  had  been  long  graven  on  his  heart,  and  the  sin- 
cerity of  which  was  proved  by  the  events  of  his  after  his- 
tory. 

But  now,  passing  from  Paul  himself,  let  us  consider  the 
counsels  which  he  tenders  to  the  Ephesian  elders.  He  bids 
them  take  heed  to  their  personal  character  and  to  their  pub- 
lic duties.  Spiritual  efficiency  in  the  ministry  depends  to  a 
large  extent  on  v/hat  the  minister  is  himself ;  and  so  his 
first  duty  is  to  "  take  heed  "  to  himself.  The  power  of  a 
man's  words  is  determined  by  what  the  man  is,  a  great  deal 
more  than  by  the  manner  in  which  he  says  them.  Even  a 
heathen  philosopher  declared  that  the  first  requisite  for  an 
orator  is  that  he  should  be  a  good  man ;  and  the  noblest 
eloquence  in  the  pulpit  is  the  efflorescence  of  the  life  of  the 
preacher.  Rhetoric  without  holiness  is  but  tinsel ;  but  where 
holiness  is,  it  may  be  safely  left  to  itself  to  find  its  own  ex- 
pression, and  in  that,  whatever  it  be,  there  will  be  power. 
Besides,  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  the  life  of  the  preach- 
er is  itself  a  sermon.     He  is  in  some  sort  a  representative 


The  Parting  Address.  365 

man,  and  both  in  the  church  and  out  of  it  others  regulate 
themselves  by  his  conduct ;  therefore  he  should  be  specially 
on  his  guard.  It  may  not  be  of  much  consequence  that  the 
light  of  an  ordinary  chamber  window  is  darkened  ;  but  if 
the  lamps  in  yonder  twin-towers  upon  the  Highlands  should 
be  unlit  even  for  a  single  night,  some  dreadful  shipwreck 
may  be  the  consequence.  Like  such  a  tower,  the  minister 
occupies  a  public  and  exalted  position.  He  is  set,  like  his 
Master,  for  the  fall  and  rising  of  many ;  and  he  ought  to 
show  himself  an  example  of  meekness,  humility,  purity,  and 
integrity.  Blessed  is  that  church  whose  pastor,  after  saying, 
like  Paul,  "Whatsoever  things  are  true,  honest,  just,  pure, 
lovely,  and  of  good  report,  think  on  these  things,"  can  add, 
like  him  also,  "  Those  things  which  ye  have  both  learned, 
and  received,  and  heard,  and  seen  in  me,  do  :  and  the  God 
of  peace  shall  be  with  you."'* 

The  official  counsels  tendered  to  these  elders  are  con- 
tained in  the  phrases,  "take  heed  to  all  the  flock,"  "feed 
the  church,"  "watch,"  "warn;"  "so  laboring,  ye  ought  to 
support  the  weak  ;"  and  they  all  point  to  the  fact  that  every 
individual  in  the  church  was  to  be  appropriately  cared  for. 
The  rich  were  not  to  be  attended  to  while  the  poor  were 
neglected  ;  the  young  were  not  to  be  instructed  and  the 
aged  forgotten ;  the  sick  were  not  to  be  visited  while  the 
healthy  were  ignored ;  but  each  was  to  be  personally  known 
and  dealt  with  according  to  his  character  and  necessity. 
Those  who  were  going  dangerously  near  the  world  w^ere  to 
be  warned  in  love  and  faithfulness ;  those  who  were  insub- 
ordinate were  to  be  reproved ;  those  who  had  been  back- 
sliding were  to  be  gone  after  and,  if  possible,  reclaimed ; 
those  who  had  been  overtaken  in  a  fault  were  to  be  restored 
in  the  spirit  of  meekness ;  those  who  were  weak  were  to  be 

*  Phil,  iv.,  8,  9. 


366  Paul  the  Missionary. 

strengthened  ;  and  those  who  were  suffering  from  want  were 
to  be  provided  for,  out  of  regard  to  Him  who  said,  "  It  is 
more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." 

Very  suggestive  is  it,  also,  to  note  the  motives  by  which 
these  exhortations  are  enforced.  They  are  such  as  these: 
because  they  had  been  made  overseers  by  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
because  those  over  whom  they  had  been  set  had  been  pur- 
chased by  the  Lord*  with  his  own  blood  ;  and  because  spe- 
cial dangers  were  even  then  threatening  their  charge.  "  I 
know  this,"  says  Paul,  "  that  after  my  departing  shall  griev- 
ous wolves  enter  in  among  you,  not  sparing  the  flock.  Also 
of  your  own  selves  shall  men  arise,  speaking  perverse  things, 
to  draw  away  disciples  after  them."  Subsequent  events 
clearly  showed  that  the  apostle's  fears  were  not  unfounded  ; 
for  he  warned  Timothy,  when  at  a  later  date  he  was  at  Eph- 
esus,  of  certain  men  "  who  spake  lies  in  hypocrisy,  and  had 
their  consciences  seared  with  a  hot  iron ;  forbade  to  marry, 
and  commanded  to  abstain  from  meats  which  God  had  cre- 
ated to  be  received  with  thanksgiving  of  them  which  believe 
and  know  the  truth. "f  In  the  same  letter  mention  is  made 
of  Hymeneus  and  Alexander, $  whom  Paul  had  delivered 
unto  Satan  that  they  might  learn  not  to  blaspheme.  In 
after- years, §  Cerinthus,  supposed  to  be  from  Alexandria, 
promulgated  his  heresies  even  before  the  face  of  the  apostle 
John ;  and  in  the  epistle  to  the  Church  of  Ephesus,  which 
is  incorporated  in  the  Book  of  Revelation,  its  members  are 
exhorted  to  return  to  their  first  love,  and  warned  against 
the  doctrine  of  the  Nicolaitanes,  which  was  declared  to  be 
abhorrent  to  the  heart  of  Christ.  ||      The  fear  lest  these 

*  The  reading,  "the  Church  of  the  Lord,"  is  preferred  by  most  crit- 
ics ;  though  there  are  weighty  arguments  in  favor  of  "  the  Church  of 
God."  t  I  Tim.  iv.,  2,  3.  |  i  Tim.  i.,  20. 

§  See  "  Paul  the  Preacher,"  by  Rev.  John  Eadie,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  p.337. 

11  Rev.  ii.,  1-7. 


The  Parting  Address.  367 

things,  of  which  perhaps  Paul  had  already  seen  the  germs 
among  them,  should  gain  strength,  and  choke  the  true  life 
of  the  Church,  made  him  earnest  in  enforcing  the  counsels 
which  he  now  addressed  to  the  elders,  yet  how  delicately 
and  affectionately  he  puts  them  on  their  guard !  Indeed, 
his  own  dealing  with  them  here  was  itself  a  pattern  of  the 
kind  of  pastorate  w^hich  he  wished  them  to  aim  after,  having 
in  it  all  those  elements  of  warning  and  instruction,  tender- 
ness and  fidelity,  precept  and  example,  which  he  desired 
them  to  cultivate  ;  and  often,  during  his  long  imprisonment, 
they  would  recall  his  words,  and  animate  each  other  anew 
by  a  rehearsal  of  their  conference  with  him  at  Miletus. 

But  now  the  time  drew  near  when  they  must  part ;  and  as 
there  was  no  place  so  appropriate  for  the  saying  of  farewell 
as  the  mercy-seat,  and  no  act  so  fitting  in  connection  with 
it  as  that  of  prayer,  "  he  kneeled  down  and  prayed  with  them 
all."  We  have  no  record  of  the  supplications  which  he  of- 
fered, but  they  would  be  without  doubt  an  expansion  of  the 
touching  adieu  (in  the  literal  sense  of  the  term)  expressed 
in  the  words,  "  And  now,  brethren,  I  commend  you  to  God, 
and  to  the  word  of  his  grace,  which  is  able  to  build  you  up, 
and  to  give  you  an  inheritance  among  all  them  which  are 
sanctified."  As  they  felt  depressed  by  the  weight  of  the 
responsibilities  w^hich  had  been  laid  upon  them,  he  would 
seek  for  them  the  help  of  the  Lord ;  and  as  they  sorrowed 
"  most  of  all  for  the  words  which  he  spake,  that  they  should 
see  his  face  no  more,"  he  would  seek  for  them  all  a  happy 
reunion  in  that  heavenly  home  wdiere  they  should  all  be 
partakers  of  "  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light."  Then, 
the  prayer  ended,  they  "  accompanied  him  unto  the  ship," 
and  as  the  vessel  bore  away  they  gazed  with  wistful  eyes 
after  it  until  it  was  lost  to  sight  on  the  far  horizon. 

I  cannot  conclude  without  seeking  to  give  point  to  two 
practical  lessons  suggested  by  some  things  in  this  narrative. 

r6* 


368  Paul  the  Missionary. 

In  the  first  place,  we  may  learn  that  we  ought,  at  every 
sacrifice,  to  prosecute  the  work  which  Christ  has  given  us 
to  do.  Paul's  highest  ambition  was  that  he  might  finish  his 
course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry  which  he  had  received  of 
the  Lord,  "  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God."  Now, 
it  is  true  that  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word  he  was  call- 
ed to  an  apostleship ;  but  the  humblest  among  us,  in  some 
department  or  other,  may  witness  for  Christ.  The  Son  of 
man  has  given  "to  every  man  his  work."  There  is  enough 
for  us  all,  and  there  is  a  special  sphere  for  each.  One 
may  find  his  place  in  the  Sunday-school;  another  in  the 
mission  field  ;  another,  like  Harlan  Page,  in  Christian  corre- 
spondence ;  another  in  the  home ;  and  another  in  the  pulpit ; 
Vv'hile  we  are  all  called  everywhere  to  bear  to  him  the  po- 
tent testimony  of  a  holy  life.  But  whatever  our  individual 
"course  "  may  be,  our  aim  should  be  "to  finish"  it  "with 
joy ;"  and  nothing  should  be  perm.itted  to  move  us  from  our 
obedience  to  our  living  Lord,  so  that  at  last,  like  our  apos- 
tle, we  may  be  able  to  say,  "  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I 
have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith :  henceforth 
there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the 
Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day :  and 
not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all  them  also  that  love  his  ap- 
pearing." 

Let  us  not  imagine,  however,  that  this  can  be  done  with- 
out conflict  or  sacrifice.  Paul  had  to  encounter  many  dan- 
gers, to  endure  many  hardships,  and  to  do  battle  with  many 
adversaries  ;  and  we  may  not  look  for  exemption  from  such 
things  any  more  than  he.  We  are  ignorant  of  the  future ; 
and  we  have  to  say  every  day  of  our  lives  that  we  know  not 
what  shall  befall  us,  yet  we  may  be  sure  that  obstacles  of 
some  kind  must  be  met  and  overcome  by  us.  They  m.ay 
not  be  such  bonds  and  afflictions  as  awaited  Paul  in  Pales- 
tine and  Rome ;  yet  it  is  written  for  us  as  well  as  for  others, 


The  Parting  Address.  369 

"  In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation  ;"  and  again,  "  All 
that  will  live  godly  must  suffer  persecution."  In  some  way 
or  other,  therefore,  v.^e  shall  be  made  to  know  Christ  "  in  the 
fellowship  of  his  sufferings."  So  let  us  prepare  to  meet  an- 
tagonism with  the  same  calm  courage  with  which  Paul  con- 
templated the  conflicts  that  were  now  before  him.  We  serve 
the  same  ]\Iaster  as  he  did ;  we  may  rely  on  the  same  help 
as  he  received ;  and  the  same  glorious  reward  as  he  is  now 
enjoying,  is  in  reserve  for  us.  For  though,  perhaps,  he  was 
peculiar  in  the  nature  and  degree  of  his  trials,  he  is  by  no 
means  singular  in  his  experience  of  the  grace  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  He  is,  in  fact,  but  one  of  a  whole  multitude 
who  have  testified  to  the  faithfulness  of  Jesus  in  the  keep- 
ing of  his  promise  to  succor  his  followers  in  the  hour  of 
need.  I  have  spoken  of  the  thrilling  nobleness  of  that  sub- 
lime utterance, "  None  of  these  things  move  me,  neither  count 
I  my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I  might  finish  my  course 
with  joy ;"  but  the  records  of  Christian  history  have  other 
sayings  not  unworthy  to  be  put  side  by  side  even  with  that. 
When  William  Tyndale — name  ever. to  be  held  in  honor  by 
all  who  read  our  English  Bible — was  told  that  the  bishops 
had  publicly  burnt  all  the  copies  of  his  New  Testament  on 
which  they  could  lay  their  hands,  he  calmly  wrote,  with  a 
too  sure  presage  of  his  after-fate,  "In  burning  the  New  Tes- 
tament they  did  none  other  things  than  I  looked  for;  nor 
more  shall  they  do  if  they  burn  me  also,  if  it  be  God's  will 
it  shall  be  so ;"  and  that  he  was  prepared  for  that  v;as  am- 
ply proved  that  day  at  Vilvorde,  when,  standing  at  the  stake, 
he  cried,  "  O  Lord,  open  the  eyes  of  the  King  of  England !" 
So,  too,  W'hen  John  Calvin — wdiose  intellect  was  so  pre-emi- 
nent that  we  are  apt  to  lose  sight  of  his  devotion  to  Christ, 
and  enthusiasm  in  his  cause — was  menaced  with  violence,  he 
grandly  said,  "  If  this  is  what  we  have  deserved  at  the  hands 
of  men  whom  we  have  struggled  to  benefit — namely,  to  be 


370  Paul  the  Missionary. 

loaded  with  calumny  and  stung  with  ingratitude — then  this 
is  my  voice, '  Ply  your  fagots !'  but  we  warn  you  that  even  in 
death  we  shall  become  the  conquerors,  not  simply  because 
we  shall  find,  even  through  the  fagots,  a  sure  passage  to 
that  upper  and  better  life,  but  because  our  blood  shall  ger- 
minate like  precious  seed,  and  propagate  that  eternal  truth 
of  God  which  is  now  so  scorned  and  rejected  by  the  world." 
And,  lest  you  should  imagine  that  these  cases  also  are  ex- 
ceptional, because  of  the  prominence  of  the  work  which  was 
done  by  those  noble  men,  I  would  remind  you  of  others  in 
more  recent  days.  The  records  of  the  Indian  Mutiny  con- 
tain many  instances  of  native  Christians,  and  of  English 
soldiers — some  of  them  hardly  out  of  their  boyhood — who 
could  not  be  moved  to  abjure  Christ  by  the  most  exquisite 
tortures  which  savagism  could  devise  ;  while  the  story  of  the 
Madagascar  Church,  as  told  by  Mr.  Ellis,  has  chapters  in 
it  which,  in  point  of  Christian  heroism,  raise  this  nineteenth 
century  to  a  level  with  the  first.  Nor  is  this  all.  There 
are  among  ourselves  martyrs  in  humble  life  who  are  daily 
exposed  to  sacrificial  flames  of  which  no  one  knows  fully 
but  Jesus ;  youths  who  brave  all  manner  of  insults  rather 
than  renounce  their  allegiance  to  their  Lord ;  wives  who 
bear  meekly  the  bitterest  taunts  rather  than  be  disloyal  to 
Christ ;  husbands  who  carry  in  secret  the  weight  of  living 
crosses,  whose  burden  is  all  the  heavier,  and  whose  nails  are 
all  the  sharper  because  of  their  love  to  those  who  form 
them ;  workmen  who  face  continually  a  whole  battery  of 
scorn  rather  than  do  what  their  divine  Master  has  forbid- 
den. Blessed  be  God,  the  spirit  of  Paul  is  living  yet !  be- 
cause the  Lord  of  Paul  still  lives  to  make  strength  "perfect 
in  weakness."  Hold  fast,  ye  tempted,  struggling,  and  afiiict- 
ed  ones  !  the  victory  is  already  yours.  You  have  a  happi- 
ness unknown  to  your  antagonists ;  and  louder  than  the 
noise  of  your  assailants,  you  may  hear  your  great  Captain's 


The  Parting  Address.  371 

words  as  they  come  floating  down  to  you  from  the  throne  on 
which  he  sits,  "  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give 
thee  a  crown  of  life."  Ah  !  if  we  had  that  crown  more  fully 
in  the  view  of  our  faith-eye,  we  should  all  find  it  easy  to  say 
with  Paul,  "  None  of  these  things  move  me ;  neither  count  I 
my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I  might  finish  my  course 
with  jo}^  and  the  ministry,  which  I  have  received  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God." 

But  we  may  learn  from  this  whole  scene,  in  the  second 
place,  that  believers  should  at  critical  times  commend  their 
friends  to  the  fostering  care  of  God.  When  Paul  parted 
from  these  elders,  he  felt  that  the  best  thing  he  could  do 
for  them  was  to  commit  them  to  the  word  of  God's  grace. 
Now,  it  would  be  well  for  us,  in  similar  circumstances,  to 
follow  this  example.  When  we  are  in  sorrow  ourselves,  let 
us  lift  up  our  hearts  unto  God ;  and  when  we  know  that  oth- 
ers are  in  distress,  then  is  the  time  to  bespeak  God's  favor 
for  them.  Especially  is  this  true  of  those  manifold  part- 
ings from  friends  over  which  hangs  the  shadowy  uncertain- 
ty that  we  may  see  their  faces  on  earth  no  more.  When, 
for  example,  the  lad  leaves  his  father's  house  and  is  about 
to  proceed  to  a  distance  to  prosecute  his  studies,  or  to  en- 
ter upon  business  in  the  midst  of  many  temptations,  what 
can  be  more  appropriate  than  for  his  father  or  his  mother 
to  take  him  to  some  place  apart,  and  there  commend  him 
"  to  God  and  the  word  of  his  grace  ?"  When,  again,  we 
tread  the  deck  of  the  vessel,  and  are  about  to  embrace  for 
the  last  time  the  loved  ones  who  are  going  for  long  years 
to  a  foreign  land,  and  we  know  not  if  we  shall  ever  meet 
them  again  on  earth,  what  can  be  more  consoling  both  to 
us  and  to  them  than  to  whisper,  if  our  sobs  will  let  us,  this 
tender  adieu,  "  I  commend  you  to  God  and  the  word  of  his 
grace  !"  When  some  dear  friend  is  in  deep  waters,  and  we 
feel  our  impotence  to  help  him,  because  a  crushing  weight 


372  Paul  the  Missionary. 

is  lying  on  his  heart  which  no  other  man  can  touch,  what 
a  rehef  to  us,  and  what  a  benison  to  him  it  is  to  be  able  to 
say,  "  I  commend  you  to  God  and  the  word  of  his  grace !" 
It  is  impossible  to  tell  what  comfort  and  strength  may  come 
to  the  tried  and  stricken  one  through  the  oft-recurring  re- 
membrance of  words  like  these  fitly  spoken.  When  Thomas 
M'Crie,  the  biographer  of  John  Knox,  was  setting  out  as  a 
lad  from  his  country  home  for  Edinburgh,  there  to  enter 
upon  his  first  session  of  university  life,  his  mother  went  with 
him  for  a  portion  of  the  way;  and  when  at  length  they  came 
to  the  place  where  they  had  to  part,  she  took  him  into  a  field 
by  the  wayside,  knelt  down  with  him  behind  a  stock^  of  stand- 
ing corn-sheaves — for  it  was  the  time  of  harvest — and  fer- 
vently besought  for  him  the  blessing  of  the  Lord.  His  son 
tells  us  that  he  never  forgot  that  prayer ;  and  that  its  influ- 
ence for  inspiration  and  for  strength  was  with  him  through 
his  life.  And  if  I  may  be  permitted  to  refer  to  my  own  his- 
tory, I  recall  with  peculiar  vividness  at  this  moment  the  last 
evening  at  my  father's  fireside  before  I  set  out  for  college 
life.  I  had  never  been  away  from  home  for  any  length  of 
time  before ;  a  great  city  like  Glasgow  was,  to  a  boy  brought 
up  in  a  provincial  town,  full  of  perils ;  and  so  a  strange 
commingling  of  joy  and  trepidation  was  in  my  heart.  After 
family  worship  my  father  took  me  with  him  into  his  own 
place  for  secret  prayer ;  and  as  we  knelt  together,  he  put 
his  hand  upon  my  shoulder,  and  poured  out  his  heart  for 
me  before  his  God.  I  think  I  feel  that  hand  upon  my  shoul- 
der now ;  and  looking  back  through  the  years  of  the  past,  I 
can  remember  many  times  when  the  memory  of  that  prayer 
was  a  solace,  a  stimulus,  a  support.  It  has  been  better  to 
me  than  would  have  been  the  legacy  of  a  millionnaire ;  and 
if  some  similar  home-scene  should  by  my  words  be  brought 

*  Scottice,  "stook." 


The  Parting  Address.  373 

even  now  before  any  of  you  who  are  yet "  strangers  from  the 
commonwealth  of  promise,"  let  that  plead  with  you  to-night 
to  bring  you  to  the  Lord  !  Never,  be  sure,  did  these  Ephe- 
sian  elders  forget  the  supplication  with  which  Paul  con- 
cluded this  beautiful  address.  Never  will  your  boy  forget 
the  prayer  which  you  breathe  beside  him  when  he  is  going 
out  into  the  world ;  and  as  the  loved  native  land  fades  out 
of  sight,  the  lonely  voyager,  as  he  paces  the  deck  of  the  ship, 
will  still  keep  in  his  heart  the  remembrance  of  that  latest 
cry  you  addressed  to  God  on  his  behalf.  He  will  live  on  it 
through  years  of  separation ;  and  wherever  he  is,  there  will 
hover  over  him  that  bright  inheritance  among  all  them  that 
are  sanctified,  cheering  him  on,  and  beckoning  him  upward. 
What  a  blessing  it  is  to  be  the  means  of  thus  encouraging 
the  feeble  !  What  a  comfort  it  is,  when  we  are  feeble,  to  be 
thus  encouraged !  And  when  the  last  parting  time  draws 
on,  when  death  comes  to  steal  our  senses  and  to  shut  our 
sight,  and  we  know  that  we  are  going  the  way  whence  we 
shall  not  return,  it  will  be  enough  if  some  one  near  will 
whisper  these  words  of  Paul,  "I  commend  you  to  God  and 
to  the  word  of  his  grace,  which  is  able  to  give  you  an  inher- 
itance among  all  them  that  are  sanctified."  Oh  the  glory 
and  the  gladness  of  that  ecstatic  moment,  when,  seeing  face 
to  face,  we  shall  be  satisfied  in  God's  own  likeness !  For 
you  and  for  m3^self,  dear  friends,  may  there  be  such  an  en- 
trance ministered  abundantly  into  "  the  everlasting  kingdom 
of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ." 


XX. 

MILETUS  TO  JERUSALEM, 
Acts  xxi. 

LEAVING  Miletus,  the  apostle  and  his  fellow -voya- 
gers made  direct  for  Coos,  or  Cos,  an  island  about 
twenty -one  miles  in  length  and  six  in  breadth,  which  lay 
along  the  coast  of  Caria.  Its  chief  town  was  about  forty 
miles  due  south  of  Miletus,  and  the  vessel  arrived  there  in 
the  evening.  The  next  day  they  reached  the  island  of 
Rhodes,  which,  as  Kitto  has  quaintly  jDut  it,  "  looks  like  a 
large  piece  broken  off  from  the  south-west  corner  of  Asia 
Minor,  and  lying  only  nine  miles  from  the  nearest  point  of 
its  coast."*  It  was  anciently  celebrated  for  its  schools,  for 
the  flourishing  state  of  the  arts  and  sciences  in  it,  for  its 
commerce,  and  for  its  ship-building.  A  colossal  statue  of 
Apollo,  reared  over  its  harbor — not  bestriding  it,  according 
to  the  popular  but  erroneous  idea — was  long  regarded  as 
one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world;  but  before  the  date  of 
which  we  are  now  speaking,  it  had  been  overthrown  by  an 
earthquake,  and  "  the  legs  only,  as  high  as  the  knees,  re- 
tained their  upright  position,  while  the  rest  of  the  gigantic 
mass  lay  extended  along  the  margin  of  the  port."t  The 
maritime  importance  of  the  place  may  be  inferred  from  the 
fact  that  it  lay  on  the  verge  of  the  two  basins  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, and  became  an  intermediate  point  for  the  eastern 

*  Kitto's  "  Daily  Bible  Illustrations,"  Evening  Series,  vol.  iv.,  p.  457. 
t  Lewin,  vol.  ii.,  p.  99. 


Miletus  to  Jerusalem.  375 

and  western  trade.*  The  next  port  at  which  they  arrived 
was  Patara,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Xanthus,  where  was  a 
famous  temple  of  Apollo.  Here,  either  because  the  ship  in 
which  they  had  come  thus  far  was  going  no  farther,  or  be- 
cause it  was  chartered  for  another  destination  than  that  to 
which  they  were  bound,  the  apostle  and  his  companions  left 
it,  and  embarked  in  another  vessel  which  was  just  about  to 
sail  direct  for  Tyre.  Their  course  lay  across  the  Gulf  of 
Tarsus,  requiring  them,  when  they  sighted  Cyprus,  to  keep  it 
on  the  left,  and  with  ordinarily  favorable  weather  they  might 
and  probably  did,  make  the  passage  in  little  more  than  for- 
ty-eight hours.  The  city  of  Tyre  was  at  this  time  "  in  the 
condition  in  which  it  had  been  left  by  the  successors  of  Al- 
exander the  Great — the  island  which  once  held  the  city  be- 
ing joined  to  the  main-land  by  a  causeway,  with  a  harbor  on 
the  north  and  another  on  the  south."t  As  the  ship  had  to 
discharge  her  cargo  at  this  place,  there  was  a  delay  of  seven 
days ;  and  Paul,  ever  on  the  alert  for  opportunities  of  use- 
fulness, employed  this  interval  in  seeking  out|  the  Christian 
disciples  of  the  city  and  laboring  for  their  good.  The 
prophets  among  them  repeated  the  warnings  which  he  had 
elsewhere  received  of  the  dangers  which  were  before  him, 
and  sought  to  dissuade  him  from  his  purpose  of  going  up 
to  Jerusalem.  But  he  was  inexorable ;  and  therefore,  with 
tearful  affection,  they  accompanied  him  to  the  shore,  where 
they  knelt  with  him  in  prayer,  while,  as  before  at  Miletus, 
with  the  elders  of  Ephesus,  he  commended  them  "  to  God 
and  to  the  word  of  his  grace." 

From  Tyre  the  vessel  went  to  Ptolemais,  which  is  to-day 
one  of  the  most  ancient  seaports  in  the  world.     It  is  the 


*  Conybeare  and  Howson,  vol.  ii.,  p.  229.  t  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  235. 

4.  The  term  rendered  "finding,"  in  Acts  xxi.,  4,  literally  means  "find- 
ins  after  diligent  search." 


376  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Accho  of  the  Book  of  Judges  f  the  Ptolemais  of  classical 
antiquity ;  the  St.  Jean  D'Acre  of  the  Crusaders ;  and  the 
Acre  which,  garrisoned  in  1799  by  Sir  Sydney  Smith,  suc- 
cessfully resisted  the  assault  of  Napoleon ;  but  in  its  long 
history,  we  do  not  find  anything  more  interesting  to  the 
Christian  than  Paul's  landing  here  just  before  that  final 
visit  to  Jerusalem,  which  ultimately  opened  the  way  for  his 
going  to  Rome,  although  not  quite  in  the  manner  that  he  had 
at  one  time  expected.  After  one  brief  day  spent  with  the 
bretliren  in  that  even  then  venerable  city,  the  apostle  went 
with  his  friends  overland  to  Caesarea,  a  distance  of  some 
thirty  miles.  Here,  having  still  some  time  to  spare  before 
the  feast  of  the  Pentecost,  he  remained  for  a  few  days,  that 
he  might  renew  his  fellowship  with  the  Christians  of  the 
city,  and  probably,  also,  that  he  might  send  forward  tidings 
of  his  arrival  to  the  brethren  of  Jerusalem.  He  found  a 
home,  for  the  time,  in  the  house  of  Philip,  one  of  the  seven 
who  had  been  chosen  to  the  deacon's  office,  but  now  better 
known  as  the  Evangelist.  This  man  had  been  instrumental 
in  producing  that  great  spiritual  uprising  in  Samaria,  of 
which  we  read  in  one  of  the  early  chapters  of  The  Acts,  and 
he  had  been  commissioned  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  instruct 
the  Ethiopian  treasurer ;  but,  as  seems  to  me  probable  from 
a  reference  made  in  the  record  to  wdiich  I  have  just  alluded, 
his  permanent  abode  was  at  Caesarea.f  At  this  time  his 
four  unmarried  daughters, $  who  were  possessed  of  the  gift 
of  prophecy,  were  living  under  his  roof ;  and  though  it  is 
not  said  in  so  many  words  that  they  foretold  what  was  to 
happen  to  the  apostle,  yet  it  seems  likely  that  they  also  re- 
newed the  warnings  which  he  had  already  so  frequently  re- 

*  Judg.  i.,  31.  t  Acts  viii.,  40. 

J  There  seems  no  foundation  whatever  for  the  notion  ofPlumptre  that 
thev  were  under  a  vow. 


Miletus  to  Jerusalem.  377 

ceived.  But  whether  they  did  so  or  not,  we  know  that  Paul 
had  once  more  to  face  the  tears  and  entreaties  of  his  friends  ; 
for  during  his  sojourn  at  C^sarea,  Agabas,  the  Jerusalem 
prophet,  who  had  formerly  predicted  the  approach  of  fam- 
ine,"^  came  down  from  the  metropolis,  and  in  a  very  striking 
and  impressive  manner  foreshadowed  to  the  apostle  the 
perils  which  were  before  him.  Using  a  symbol,  after  the 
frequent  practice  of  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and  Ezekiel,  he  took 
Paul's  girdle,  and  bound  with  it  his  own  hands  and  feet,  say- 
ing, "  Thus  saith  the  Holy  Ghost,  So  shall  the  Jews  at  Jeru- 
salem bind  the  man  that  owneth  this  girdle,  and  shall  deliver 
him  into  the  hands  of  the  Gentiles."  This  was  a  much  more 
specific  and  alarming  announcement  than  any  which  had  yet 
been  made,  indicating  as  it  did  that  he  should  be  handed 
over  to  the  Roman  power;  and  therefore,  now  for  the  first 
time  apparently,  Luke  and  Trophimus  and  Aristarchus,  and 
the  rest  of  his  fellow-travellers,  added  their  entreaties  to  those 
which  had  come  from  the  Christians  in  other  places,  as  they 
came  now  from  the  brethren  in  Caesarea,  with  the  view  of  in- 
ducing him  to  reconsider  and  if  possible  recall  his  resolution. 
But  he  was  still  firm,  and  said,  "  What  mean  ye  to  weep  and 
to  break  mine  heart  ?  for  I  am  ready  not  to  be  bound  only, 
but  also  to  die  at  Jerusalem  for  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus." 
Now,  it  may  seem  that  in  all  this  Paul  was  going  in  direct 
antagonism  to  the  will  of  God ;  and  in  particular,  that  sup- 
port is  given  to  that  opinion  by  the  record  concerning  the 
disciples  at  Tyre,  "  who  said  to  Paul  through  the  Spirit,  that 
he  should  not  go  up  to  Jerusalem. "f  But  that  and  the 
other  warnings  which  he  had  received — this  of  Agabas  no 
less  than  the  rest — could  not  have  been  understood  by  the 
apostle  as  distinct  and  positive  prohibitions  of  his  visit  to 
Jerusalem ;  for,  had  he  taken  them  in   that  sense,  he  cer- 

*  Acts  xi,,  28.  t  Acts  xxi.,  4. 


37^  Paul  the  Missionary. 

tainly  would  never  have  gone  to  the  Holy  City  on  this  occa- 
sion. It  was  sufficient  for  him  at  any  time  to  have  a  clear 
indication  of  the  will  of  God,  for  that  always  insured  his  fol- 
lowing it.  The  state  of  the  case,  however,  was  this.  His 
friends,  through  the  revelation  of  the  Spirit,  had  learned 
that  dangers  were  before  their  beloved  teacher ;  and,  natu- 
rally enough,  their  affection  for  him  imioelled  them  to  do 
all  they  could  to  keep  him  from  going  where  the  danger 
was.  The  Spirit  did  not  say  one  thing  in  him  and  another 
in  them.  In  him  there  was  the  conviction  clear  and  strong 
— indeed,  unalterable — that  it  was  his  duty  to  go.  So  much 
the  Spirit  had  made  plain  to  him.  In  them  there  was  the 
belief,  produced  by  the  revelation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  he 
would  be  imprisoned  and  given  over  to  the  Roman  power  if 
he  went ;  and  the  sum  of  the  two  communications  was  an 
intimation  to  the  apostle  that  he  was  not  to  go  unless  he 
was  prepared  for  hardship,  imprisonment,  and  possibly  also 
martyrdom.  But  he  was  prepared  for  any  or  all  of  these 
things;  and  so,  when  his  weeping  friends  heard  his  unfalter- 
ing words  of  determination,  they  recognized  the  purpose  of 
God  in  the  matter,  and  said,  "The  will  of  the  Lord  be  done." 
At  Cassarea,  Paul  made  the  acquaintance  of  one  Mnason, 
who  had  been  a  disciple  from  the  early  days  of  the  Church, 
and  whose  residence  was  at  Jerusalem.  It  was  forthwith 
arranged,  therefore,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  his  comfort, 
and  perhaps  also  his  safety,  that  Paul  should  lodge  at  his 
house;  and  thus  it  came  that  he  accompanied  the  pilgrim 
band  in  their  journey  between  the  two  Jewish  capitals. 
But  the  journey  was  performed  in  no  such  aristocratic  man- 
ner as  the  average  English  reader  is  apt  to  suppose ;  for 
the  words  in  our  translation,  "  After  those  days  we  took  up 
our  carriages,  and  went  up  to  Jerusalem,"*  are  the  antique 

*  Acts  xxi.,  15. 


Miletus  to  Jerusalem.  379 

rendering  of  terms  which  would  now  be  anglicized  after 
this  fashion  :  "  We  took  up  our  baggage,*  and  went  up  to 
Jerusalem." 

Paul  was  gladly  received  by  the  brethren  whom  he  met; 
and  on  the  day  after  his  arrival,  he  had  an  opportunity  of 
describing  in  detail  to  James  and  all  the  elders  the  things 
which  God  had  wTought  among  the  Gentiles  by  his  ministry. 
They  listened  with  deep  interest  to  his  statement,  and  glo- 
rified God  on  his  behalf.  But,  as  we  have  repeatedly  seen 
already  in  this  history,  there  were  two  parties  in  the  Jewish 
Church.  The  one  was  liberal  in  its  principles,  and  desired 
to  lay  no  unnecessary  burden  on  the  Gentile  converts.  The 
other  was  narrow  in  its  character,  and  inclined  to  put  the 
greatest  possible  stress  on  obedience  to  the  Mosaic  law. 
The  members  of  this  latter  section,  indeed,  received  Jesus 
as  the  Messiah,  but  they  were  as  much  Jews  as  ever  in  their 
ceremonial  observances,  and  were  likely  to  be  greatly  scan- 
dalized by  any  neglect  of  their  national  ritual.  Now,  they 
had  heard  exaggerated  reports  of  Paul's  doings  among  the 
Gentiles.  It  had  been  said  that  he  taught  all  the  Jews 
which  were  among  the  Gentiles  to  forsake  Moses,  saying 
that  they  ought  not  to  circumcise  their  children,  neither  to 
walk  after  the  customs ;  but  very  evidently  that  was  an 
overstatement,  for  Paul  had  been  as  a  Jew  to  the  Jews.  He 
had  himself  conformed  to  their  law.  He  had  circumcised 
Timothy,  and  in  connection  with  his  vow  at  Cenchrea,  he 
had  shaved  his  head ;  and  so  far  from  having  taught  that 
believing  Jews  should  cease  to  observe  Jewish  customs,  he 
had  laid  it  down  as  a  principle  that  every  man,  circumcised 
or  uncircumcised,  should  abide  in  his  calling,  and  accept  his 
position  with  its  attendant  responsibilities. f     The  terms  of 


*  One  of  the  old  English  versions  has  it,  "  We  trussed  up  our  fardels." 
t  I  Cor.  vii.,  18-20. 


380  Paul  the  Missionary. 

the  report,  therefore,  which  were  spread  abroad  regarding 
him  were  false ;  and  yet  we  can  easily  understand  how  such 
things  had  been  laid  to  his  charge ;  for  he  had  always  un- 
equivocally declared  that  circumcision  was  of  no  merit  as 
a  ground  of  acceptance  with  God,  and  that  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles stood  precisely  on  the  same  level  as  far  as  that  was 
concerned.  He  allowed  the  Jews  to  do  as  they  pleased 
about  their  observance  of  the  customs ;  but  he  would  not 
consent  to  have  these  things  imposed  as  essential  to  salva- 
tion upon  the  Gentiles.  He  taught  that,  in  themselves  con- 
sidered, they  were  of  no  importance ;  and  that  not  through 
circumcision  or  through  uncircumcision  were  men  to  be 
saved,  but  only  through  "faith  which  worketh  by  love." 
Now,  the  ultimate  tendency  of  such  doctrines  was  undeni- 
ably to  do  away  with  all  Jewish  observances  among  believ- 
ers in  Christ ;  for  if  they  had  no  essential  value,  they  would 
continue  to  be  practised  only  through  old  habit,  or  for  the 
sake  of  avoiding  the  giving  of  offence  to  weak  consciences ; 
and  so  soon  as  the  habit  lost  its  power,  or  the  consciences 
of  believers  generally  became  stronger,  all  Jewish  customs 
would  disappear  out  of  the  Church.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
this  was  precisely  what  did  happen;  and  perhaps  the  fa- 
natical Jews,  seeing  the  inevitable  result  of  Paul's  doc- 
trines, went  so  far  as  to  charge  him  with  having  actually 
recommended  that  which  certainly  was  the  logical  outcome 
of  his  teachings  ;  but  in  that  transition  time  the  apostle  was 
very  careful  of  his  words.  He  had  never  said  such  things 
as  had  been  reported  of  him.  James  and  the  elders  did  not 
believe  that  he  had.  They  knew  precisely  where  he  stood  ; 
and  so,  to  allay  suspicion  and  ward  off  danger,  they  made  a 
proposal  to  him,  which  he  at  once  accepted.  On  his  former 
visit  Paul  had  been  himself  under  a  vow,  and  his  observ- 
ance of  the  rites  prescribed  by  Moses  for  the  formal  termi- 
nation of  the  season  over  which  such   a  pledge  extended 


Miletus  to  Jerusalem.  381 

had  been  greatly  appreciated  by  the  members  of  the  Jewish 
church.  Accordingly,  it  was  suggested  to  him  by  James  and 
the  elders  that  something  of  the  same  kind  might  be  done 
by  him  now.  He  could  not  precisely  repeat  the  former  proc- 
ess, for  the  shortest  period  for  the  Nazarite  vow  was  thirty 
days,  and  as,  in  his  own  intention,  his  visit  to  Jerusalem 
at  this  time  was  to  be  brief,  he  never  thought  of  taking 
any  such  obligation  upon  himself.  But  there  was  a  middle 
course,  by  the  taking  of  which  every  good  object  sought  by 
James  would  be  secured.  He  might  attach  himself  to  a 
company  of  Nazarites,  join  with  them  in  the  services  con- 
nected with  their  purification,  shave  his  head  along  with 
them,  and  bear  all  the  expenses  connected  with  their  sacri- 
ficial offerings.  This  was  always  regarded  as  a  pious  and 
generous  act;  and  Josephus  mentions  it  to  the  credit  of 
the  elder  Agrippa,  that  when  he  returned  to  Jerusalem  a 
crowned  monarch,  after  many  narrow  escapes  of  his  life,  he 
showed  his  gratitude  by  taking  upon  himself  the  charges  of 
a  great  number  of  Nazarites.*  Now  it  happened  that  there 
were  in  Jerusalem  at  this  time  four  Jewish  believers  who 
had  such  a  vow  upon  them ;  and  the  officials  of  the  church 
suggested  that  Paul  should  join  with  them  in  the  final  ser- 
vices of  their  purification,  which  required  only  seven  days, 
and  should  bear  their  charges. 

They  did  not  insist  on  this  as  a  thing  essential  to  his  be- 
ing recognized  as  a  Christian  brother,  but  simply  as  a  mat- 
ter of  expediency,  and  for  the  sake  of  harmony.  They  had 
no  wish  to  resile  from  the  articles  of  agreement  v/hich  had 
been  determined  on,  many  years  before,  in  connection  with 
the  reference  from  Antioch,  and  they  are  careful  to  reaffirm 
their  adherence  to  them  in  their  conference  with  Paul.  But 
at  such  a  festival  time  many  thousands  of  Jewish  disciples 

*  Josephus,  "  Wars,"  ii.,  15,  i. 


382  Paul  the  Missionary. 

would  be  in  the  city  ;  they  would  be  sure  to  hear  that  he 
was  there,  and  owing  to  the  reports  which  had  been  circu- 
lated about  him,  there  would  be  a  crowd  continually  observ- 
ing him.  It  would,  therefore,  be  greatly  for  the  interests 
of  peace,  and  not  at  all  disloyal  to  principle,  if  he  would  in 
some  such  way  as  they  had  indicated  let  it  be  seen  that, 
so  far  as  his  personal  habits  were  concerned,  he  did  not 
despise  the  law. 

Now,  we  cannot  wonder  that  Paul  consented  to  this  pro- 
posal. He  had  already  circumcised  Timothy  in  precisely 
similar  circumstances ;  and  the  arguments  which  he  had 
so  recently  enforced  in  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians 
and  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  fairly  applied  to  the  case 
which  James  and  the  elders  put  before  him,  pointed  to  his 
conformity  to  their  requests  as  the  true  line  of  duty.  With- 
out any  hesitation,  therefore,  he  did  as  they  suggested ; 
and  the  week  of  ceremonial  service  was  almost  ended,  when 
an  incident  occurred  which  changed  the  whole  aspect  of 
affairs,  and  resulted  in  his  imprisonment  in  the  Castle  of 
Antonia. 

To  understand  the  case  thoroughly,  we  must  bear  in 
mind  that  the  political  condition  of  the  Jews  at  this  time 
was  exceedingly  unsettled.  Felix  was  the  Roman  procura- 
tor, and  his  cruel  and  determined  conduct  had  driven  the 
Jews  to  the  verge  of  insurrection.  In  the  year  before  the 
apostle's  arrival,  the  high-priest  who  had  firmly  expostulated 
with  Felix  on  the  nation's  behalf  was  slain,  with  the  gov- 
ernor's connivance  as  was  supposed,  in  the  Temple.  About 
the  same  time,  also,  an  Egyptian  adventurer  claiming  to  be 
the  Messiah,  and  promising  to  restore  the  kingdom  to  Ju- 
dah,  had  gone  out  into  the  wilderness  with  four  thousand 
sicarii,  around  whom  a  force  had  collected  of  some  thirty 
thousand  men,  with  whom  he  threatened  to  attack  the  troops 
by  whom  Jerusalem  was  garrisoned.     This  impostor  was 


Miletus  to  Jerusalem.  383 

defeated,  and  his  followers  dispersed  ;  but  as  he  had  him- 
self escaped,  there  was  a  natural  anticipation  that  he  might 
speedily  reappear,  and  so  even  a  closer  watch  than  usual 
was  kept  by  the  Romans  over  the  movements  of  the  Jews. 
A  knowledge  of  these  facts  enables  us  at  once  to  under- 
stand the  vigilance  and  energy  displayed  by  the  Roman 
officer  on  the  very  outbreak  of  the  riot  which  is  here  de- 
scribed. 

The  apostle  had  gone  into  the  Temple  for  some  ritual 
purpose,  when  some  Jews,  perhaps  from  Ephesus,  certainly 
from  the  province  of  Asia,  recognized  him,  and  immediate- 
ly raised  an  uproar  against  him,  crying,  "  Men  of  Israel, 
help  :  This  is  the  man  that  teacheth  all  men  everywhere 
against  the  people,  and  the  law,  and  this  place  :  and  further 
brought  Greeks  also  into  the  temple,  and  hath  polluted  this 
holy  place."  If  Paul  had  done  what  they  laid  to  his  charge, 
he  was  guilty  of  a  disrespect  for  the  worship  of  Jehovah  in 
the  Jewish  Temple,  which  he  had  not  shown  for  that  of  Di- 
ana in  the  Temple  of  Ephesus.  But  he  could  not  have  done 
anything  of  the  kind ;  and  even  if  he  had  attempted  it,  the 
prudence  of  his  companions  would  have  kept  them  from 
going  with  him ;  for  beyond  the  middle  wall  which  divided 
the  court  of  the  strangers  from  that  of  the  Jews,  no  man  of 
another  nation  was  permitted  to  pass,  and  every  means  was 
taken  to  warn  visitors  of  the  danger  which  they  incurred  in 
disregarding  that  prohibition.  The  recent  excavations  of 
the  Palestine  Exploration  Society  have  brought  to  light 
a  slab  with  an  inscription,  discovered  and  deciphered  by 
M.  Clermont  Ganneau,  which  illustrates  the  horror  with 
which  the  Jews  looked  on  such  a  profanation.  Its  contents 
show  that  it  must  have  formed  a  part  of  the  low  wall  just 
mentioned.  "  No  man  of  alien  race  is  ta  ejiter  within  the 
balustrade  and  fence  that  goes  round  the  Temple.  If  any  one 
is  taken '  in  the  act,  let  him  know  that  he  has  himself  to  blame 

17 


384  Paul  the  Missionary. 

for  the  penalty  of  death  that  follow sT^  It  is  hardly  likely, 
therefore,  that  with  such  an  inscription  before  their  eyes, 
either  Paul  or  his  companions  would  have  been  so  foolhardy 
as  to  attempt  that  with  which  they  were  charged  ;  but  the 
terms  of  the  exclamation  indicate  sufficiently  the  purpose  of 
those  who  made  the  accusation.  They  wished  to  have  Paul 
summarily  put  to  death,  for  a  crime  in  regard  to  which  the 
Romans  would  not  be  likely  to  interfere.  But  he  had  not 
been  guilty  of  that  of  which  he  was  accused.  The  whole 
thing  was  founded  on  a  mistake.  The  Asiatic  Jews  had 
seen  Trophimus  and  Paul  together  on  the  street,  and  they 
supposed  that  he  had  taken  him  with  him  into  the  forbidden 
precinct.  But  no  time  was  given  him  for  explanation  or 
vindication.  The  cry  of  the  men  of  Asia  had  gathered  a 
crowd.  That  crowd  heard  Paul  accused  —  by  those  who 
seemed  to  know  whereof  they  affirmed — of  bringing  Gen- 
tiles into  the  Holy  Place,  and  teaching  the  people  every- 
where against  the  law,  and  so  they  immediately  attacked 
him,  with  the  view  of  putting  him  to  death.  One  wonders 
whether,  in  this  exciting  moment,  the  apostle  remarked  the 
similarity  of  the  charges  brought  against  him  to  those  which 
had  been  advanced  against  Stephen.  We  cannot  tell.  We 
only  know  that  his  sublime  words,  "  None  of  these  things 
move  me,"  were  now  nobly  verified;  for  he  did  not  betake 
himself  to  flight,  but  calmly  awaited  the  issue,  whatever  that 
might  be.  The  fact  that  he  was  in  the  Holy  Place  secured 
a  few  moments'  delay,  for  the  scrupulous  Jews  would  not 
defile  its  pavement  with  his  blood ;  and  they  had  to  take 
time  to  drag  him  out  of  the  inner  court  and  shut  its  gates 
against  him.  That  punctiliousness  of  theirs  saved  his  life  • 
for  by  the  time  that  they  had  brought  him  into  the  outer 
place,  and  were  just  beginning  to  lay  violent  hands  upon 

*  "  New  Testament  Commentary  for  English  Readers,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  149. 


Miletus  to  Jerusalem.  385 

him,  the  castle  guard  was  on  the  spot,  and  took  him  under 
its  protection. 

The  Tower  of  Antonia,  which  was  garrisoned  by  imperial 
troops,  was  situated  at  the  north-west  corner  of  the  Temple 
area  ;  and  as  it  was  carried  up  to  such  a  height  as  to  over- 
top the  spacious  courts  of  the  sacred  enclosure,  the  senti- 
nel, who  at  all  the  great  feasts  was  stationed  on  its  summit, 
could  see  when  any  disorder  occurred,  and  give  an  imme- 
diate alarm.  On  the  present  occasion,  for  the  reasons  al- 
ready indicated,  he  was  remarkably  active ;  and  before  any 
serious  injury  was  inflicted  on  the  apostle,  the  troops  were 
already  on  the  scene  under  the  command  of  Claudius  Ly- 
sias.  This  officer,  seeing  that  Paul  was  somehow  the  occa- 
sion of  the  outbreak,  commanded  that  he  should  be  bound 
with  two  chains,  and  after  he  had  been  thus  secured,  he 
asked  who  he  was,  and  what  he  had  done.  But  in  the  con- 
fusion created  by  the  mob,  he  could  get  no  satisfactory  an- 
swers to  his  questions,  and  therefore  he  ordered  him  to  be 
taken  into  the  tower.  As  the  soldiers  were  obeying  this 
command,  the  crowd  became  so  infuriated  that  they  had 
actually  to  carry  their  prisoner  in  their  arms ;  and  as  they 
bore  him  away  the  mob  hooted,  at  him  and  followed  him 
with  execrations.  But  amid  all  this  tumult  Paul  was  self- 
possessed  ;  and  when  he  reached  the  castle  stairs,  he  asked 
permission  to  speak  to  the  commandant.  In  making  his  re- 
quest, he  used  the  Greek  language,  which  so  surprised  Ly- 
sias  that  he  said,  "  Canst  thou  speak  Greek  ?  Art  not  thou 
that  Egyptian,  which  before  these  days  madest  an  uproar, 
and  leddest  out  into  the  wilderness  four  thousand  men  ?" 
But  on  hearing  from  the  apostle  that  he  was  a  Jew  from 
Tarsus,  and  that  he  wished  to  speak  to  the  people,  he  cheer- 
fully granted  that  liberty  to  address  the  multitude  which 
had  been  so  courteously  requested. 

Here,  however,  we  must  for  the  present  conclude,  leaving 


386  Paul  the  Missionary. 

the  speech  which  Paul  delivered  on  this  occasion  for  future 
consideration,  while  we  seek  to  glean  for  ourselves  some 
profitable  lessons  from  the  field  over  which  we  have  been 
passing. 

And  in  the  first  place,  we  may  find  a  stimulus  to  our 
flagging  zeal  in  the  contemplation  of  the  apostle's  activity 
in  seeking  for  and  improving  opportunities  of  usefulness. 
Throughout  this  journey  he  had  one  principal  end  in  view, 
namely,  the  reaching  of  Jerusalem  before  the  Day  of  Pente- 
cost. Neither  the  entreaties  nor  the  tears  of  friends  could 
divert  him  from  that  purpose.  But  mark,  also,  how,  while 
moving  steadily  forward,  and  losing  no  means  of  conveyance 
that  offered,  he  yet  filled  in  every  interval  of  travel  with  la- 
bors for  the  welfare  of  his  fellow-men  and  the  glory  of  his 
master.  At  Troas  he  finished  a  week's  evangelistic  work, 
by  preaching  till  long  past  midnight  on  the  evening  of  the 
Lord's-day.  At  Miletus,  when  there  was  not  time  for  him  to 
go  to  Ephesus,  he  sent  for  the  elders  of  the  church  there  to 
come  to  him,  and  held  with  them  that  service  which  stands 
out  as  the  most  touching  and  memorable  in  his  recorded 
history.  At  Tyre  he  made  diligent  search  for  disciples, 
among  whom  he  labored  for  seven  days  with  such  results 
that  when  he  left  they  hung  around  him  with  tears  and  ben- 
edictions. At  Acre  he  gave  the  one  day  of  his  sojourn  to 
the  salutation  of  the  brethren.  Men  speak  with  enthusiasm 
of  the  devotion  to  literary  pursuits  of  such  a  one  as  Julius 
Caesar,  because  on  his  rapid  military  journeys  he  contrived 
to  write  by  the  way  his  well-known  commentaries ;  they  eu- 
logize the  ardor  of  Cicero,  who,  amid  the  multiplicity  of  his 
judicial  and  political  engagements,  arranged  to  find  time  for 
the  composition  of  some  of  the  most  philosophical  treatises 
in  the  Latin  language;  and  the  younger  Pliny  tells  with 
glowing  admiration  of  the  marvellous  industry  of  his  uncle, 
who  dedicated  every  fragment  of  his  time  to  those  studies 


Miletus  to  Jerusalem.  387 

of  which  his  books  were  the  ripened  results  ;  but  have  we 
not  here  in  Paul  a  devotion  to  work  which  was  not  a  whit 
less  remarkable  ?  Well  might  he  have  excused  himself,  if, 
after  the  exciting  scenes  through  which  he  had  just  passed, 
he  had  spent  the  pauses  of  his  journeyings  at  this  time  in 
taking  rest !  But  he  filled  every  available  interval  with  the 
service  of  his  generation.  Is  he,  then,  the  less  worthy  of  ad- 
miration because  in  him  the  love  of  souls  took  the  place  of 
that  love  of  literature  which  was  the  mainspring  of  the  activ- 
ity of  those  others  to  whom  I  have  alluded  ?  Nay,  verily,  but 
only  the  more ;  for  the  ambition  which  was  behind  his  toil 
was  not  that  which  seeks  personal  honor  or  distinction,  but 
that  which  desires  the  welfare,  both  temporal  and  eternal,  of 
the  human  race ;  and  the  works  which  he  produced  were  not 
mere  books — though  even  in  that  respect,  if  we  have  regard 
to  quality  as  well  as  quantity,  he  is  not  behind  the  chiefest 
authors  of  antiquity — but  institutions  which  have  conserved 
and  propagated  even  until  this  day,  all  the  principles  that 
lead  to  civil  and  religious  freedom,  as  well  as  to  personal 
holiness  and  universal  brotherhood  among  men.  ISTor  ought 
we  to  be  content  with  giving  him  our  admiration.  He  de- 
serves our  imitation ;  and  we  may  be  well  assured  that  we 
shall  reap  success  like  that  which  he  enjoyed  only  when  we 
manifest  such  self-forgetting  industry  as  he  displayed.  Look 
back  over  this  journey,  and  you  will  cease  to  marvel  that  in 
one  brief  life  he  accomplished  so  much  for  Christ  and  for 
the  world.  Take  that  inflexible  firmness  which  held  him  to 
what  he  believed  to  be  right ;  add  to  that  his  quickness  to 
perceive  an  opportunity  of  usefulness  and  his  readiness  to 
improve  it  to  the  utmost;  then  let  these  be  vitalized  and 
sustained  by  an  intense  love  of  Christ  as  a  living,  though 
unseen,  Saviour  and  friend,  and  it  becomes  easy  to  account 
for  his  untiring  perseverance  and  unparalleled  success. 
Give  us  more  of  these  principles,  so  unified  and  sustained 


388  Paul  the  Missionary. 

among  the  pastors  and  Christians  of  to-day,  and  we  shall 
begin  to  understand  what  Paul  meant  when  he  said,  "  To 
me  to  live  is  Christ,"  while  the  wonderful  results  which  fol- 
lowed his  ministrations  will  be  renewed  among  ourselves. 

In  the  second  place,  we  have  unfolded  to  us  in  this  his- 
tory the  true  source  of  moral  courage.  When  Luke  and  his 
companions,  together  with  the  disciples  at  Caesarea,  implored 
Paul  not  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  he  said,  "  What  mean  ye  to 
weep  and  to  break  mine  heart  ?  for  I  am  ready  not  to  be 
bound  only,  but  to  die  also  at  Jerusalem  for  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus ;"  and  that  these  were  not  idle  words,  is  made 
evident  from  the  calm  self-possession  which  he  maintained 
when  he  was  assaulted  in  the  Temple  and  carried  by  the 
soldiers  to  the  stairs  of  the  castle.  Now,  it  would  be  easy 
to  eulogize  this  noble  resolution,  and  we  might  pile  epithet 
upon  epithet  in  attempting  to  characterize  it;  but  it  will  do 
us  more  good  to  inquire  what  the  root  was  from  which  this 
courage  grew.  Was  it  a  merely  physical  thing  ?  There  is 
such  a  courage  as  is  only,  or  at  least  mainly,  muscular ;  and 
in  speaking  of  it  thus  I  do  not  wish  to  disparage  it  in  the 
very  least.  It  is  a  very  desirable  thing.  In  its  own  place, 
it  is  a  very  good  thing ;  yet,  after  all,  it  is  mainly  involuntary 
and  instinctive.  It  costs  no  effort.  He  who  possesses  it  is 
brave  in  the  presence  of  danger,  because  he  is  not  sensible 
that  there  is  anything  of  which  to  be  afraid.  This  is  a  sort 
of  indifference;  but  it  is  quite  otherwise  with  him  who  is 
of  a  sensitive,  high-strung,  delicately-nervous  temperament. 
His  tendency,  rather,  is  to  fear  physical  danger ;  and  there  is 
need  of  an  effort  of  will,  and  besides  that — as  sustaining  his 
will — there  is  need  of  enthusiasm  for  some  sublime  cause  to 
rouse  such  a  one  to  brave  some  deadly  peril.  The  soldier 
who  feels  fear  on  the  battle-field,  but  who  holds  himself  at 
his  post  by  a  supreme  devotion  to  duty  or  an  ardent  love  of 
country,  is  a  more  courageous  man  by  far  than  he  v.'ho,  with 


Miletus  to  Jerusalem.  389 

an  instinct  like  that  of  the  war-horse,"  mocketh  at  fear,  and  is 
not  affrighted.'*  In  the  one  there  is  little  more  than  a  phys- 
ical quality ;  in  the  other  there  is  a  moral  strength  triumph- 
ing over  a  bodily  shrinking.  Now,  the  latter,  as  it  seems  to 
me,  was  the  case  of  Paul.  Unless  I  have  misread  his  his- 
tory, or  misunderstood  his  temperament,  he  was  not  natu- 
rally endowed  with  physical  courage,  but  rather  weak,  nerr 
vous,  and  shrinking.  He  had,  as  I  think,  all  the  fear  of  pain 
which  is  felt  by  persons  of  the  most  sensitive  organization ; 
and  therefore  I  judge  that  it  was  not  so  easy  for  him  to 
confront  danger  as  it  would  be  for  those  who  are  differently 
constituted.  But  he  had  two  principles  within  him  which 
lifted  him  above  all  considerations  of  fear,  and  made  him 
ready  to  brave  any  danger. 

The  first  was  love  to  Jesus  Christ.  We  know  what  great 
things  love  for  a  fellow-mortal  will  defy.  The  mother  will 
rush  through  the  most  appalling  danger  to  save  her  child; 
the  wife  will  become  heroic  in  seeking  to  shield  her  hus- 
band from  peril;  and  in  the  same  way  the  love  of  Christ, 
when  it  fills  the  heart,  will  fire  the  man  with  an  enthusiasm 
which  will  sustain  him — because  itself  is  sustained  by  the 
Holy  Ghost — through  the  fiercest  opposition  and  the  dead- 
liest peril.  Now  it  was  this  love  that  inspired  Paul.  He 
was  ready  to  suffer  anything  "for  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus ;"  and  no  matter  how  naturally  shrinking  and  timid 
we  may  be,  that  love  will  give  us  fortitude.  With  his  back 
to  the  Cross,  the  Christian  may  stand  unflinchingly  before 
every  adversary. 

The  second  principle  that  upheld  Paul  was  confidence  in 
God.  Like  Moses,  "  he  endured,  as  seeing  him  that  is  in- 
visible." Like  Elisha,  he  saw  with  his  faith-eye  the  hosts 
of  the  Lord  encamping  round  him.  He  knew  that  he  was 
doing  God's  work,  and  he  had  the  most  implicit  trust  that 
God  would  uphold  him  till  his  work  was  done.     If  it  were 


390  Paul  the  Missionary. 

the  Father's  will  that  he  should  perish  at  Jerusalem,  then 
he  would  only  be  the  sooner  with  the  Christ  he  loved  so 
well ;  and  so  that  alternative  had  no  dread  for  him.  If  it 
were  the  will  of  God,  on  the  other  hand,  that  he  should  tes- 
tify to  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  prisons  and  in  judgment-halls,  be- 
fore the  tribunals  of  procurators  and  emperors,  then  God 
would  give  him  grace  to  act  well  his  part,  and  so  that  alter- 
native had  no  terror  in  it.  Thus  he  possessed  his  soul  in 
peace,  in  spite  of  his  natural  susceptibility,  because  he  had 
strong  faith ;  and  we  may  learn  from  his  example  how  to 
meet  the  lesser  trials  of  our  lives,  and  the  hour  of  death  it- 
self. With  the  love  of  Christ  dwelling  within  us,  and  faith 
in  God  firmly  cherished  by  us,  courage  and  calmness  will 
come,  through  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  almost  natural- 
ly and  of  course;  and  when  both  are  strong,  we  may  ascend 
with  ease  the  several  steps  in  that  climax  of  assurance  with 
which  the  apostle  concludes  one  of  his  grandest  arguments  : 
*'  I  am  persuaded,  that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels, 
nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things 
to  come,  nor  height  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall 
be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 

Finally,  we  may  learn  here  how  man  proposes,  but  God 
disposes.  We  cannot  but  admire  the  spirit  manifested  by 
both  parties  in  the  conference  between  Paul  and  James. 
It  was  an  example  of  faithful  adherence  to  conscientious 
conviction  in  reference  to  essential  matters,  combined  with 
forbearance  and  mutual  concession  in  regard  to  things  of 
minor  importance.  It  would  seem,  too,  that  the  course  sug- 
gested by  James  and  followed  by  Paul  was  admirably  adapt- 
ed to  conciliate  all  parties  in  the  Mother-Church.  But  see 
how  it  was  all  frustrated  through  this  riot  in  the  Temple. 
Truly,  as  the  French  diplomatist  has  put  it  in  his  famous 
epigram,  "  it  is  the  unexpected  that  happens."   .  In  spite  of 


Miletus  to  Jerusalem.  391 

all  their  efforts  at  conciliation  —  nay,  in  consequence,  one 
might  almost  say  of  the  very  making  of  these  efforts — some- 
thing occurred  which  had  never  entered  into  their  calcula- 
tions, and  which  to  a  large  extent  defeated  the  end  they 
had  in  view.  No  doubt  division  in  the  Church  might  be 
obviated,  but  there  was  no  enthusiasm  created  for  Paul ;  for 
I  must  confess  that  I  see  little  indication  of  interest  in  his 
after-fate  on  the  part  of  the  brethren  in  Jerusalem.  But 
what  I  wish  to  make  prominent  is  the  fact  that  Paul's  safe- 
ty w^as  imperilled  through  his  following  of  that  course  of 
conduct  which  had  been  suggested  to  him  at  once  for  his 
security  and  for  the  good  of  the  Church.  What,  then  ?  Was 
it  wrong  for  Paul  to  yield  to  James  ?  Nay ;  for  he  was  in 
that  only  following  out  his  own  principles  of  Christian  broth- 
erhood. But  more  was  to  come  out  of  his  imprisonment  for 
the  great  cause  of  the  Gentiles  than  could  have  been  accom- 
plished by  his  freedom,  and  so  he  was,  under  God,  permitted 
to  be  apprehended,  that  through  his  apprehension  the  liberty 
of  the  Christian  might  be  put  upon  a  surer  basis,  and  a  way 
might  be  opened  for  his  visit  to  Rome.  Here,  then,  is  the 
lesson.  Let  us  take  it  with  us  and  live  on  it  in  our  common 
affairs,  for  we  shall  probably  not  get  through  to  -  morrow 
without  having  occasion  to  make  some  application  of  it. 
The  most  carefully  framed  plans  may  be  unexpectedly  upset 
by  the  occurrence  of  something  which  we  had  not  foreseen, 
and  could  not  have  foreseen ;  but,  when  they  are  thus  frus- 
trated, we  may  be  sure  that  God  has  a  higher  purpose  than 
our  own,  and  is  working  through  our  disappointment  toward 
an  end  that  shall  be  alike  satisfactory  to  ourselves  and  hon- 
oring to  him. 

17* 


XXI. 

FROM  yERUSALEM  TO  C^SAREA. 

Acts  xxii.,  xxiii. 

HAVING  received  permission  from  the  chief  captain 
to  address  the  multitude,  Paul  turned  upon  the  castle 
stairs,  and  beckoning  with  his  hand,  as  well  as  the  chain 
that  hung  from  it  would  permit,  he  commenced  to  speak  to 
them  in  their  vernacular  tongue.  When  they  heard  that, 
they  became  instantly  silent,  and  listened  intently  to  his  dis- 
course, while  he  gave  a  brief  summary  of  his  personal  his- 
tory and  experience.  He  began  with  a  reference  to  his 
birth  at  Tarsus,  and  his  education  at  Jerusalem  at  the  feet 
of  Gamaliel ;  and  then,  after  an  allusion  to  his  zeal  for  the 
law  of  their  fathers,  as  shown  by  his  persecution  of  the  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus,  he  went  on  to  tell  the  wonderful  story  of  his 
conversion  ;  and  was  proceeding  to  explain  how  by  the  Lord 
himself  he  was  commanded  to  leave  Jerusalem  and  go  to 
the  Gentiles,  when  he  was  interrupted  by  an-  outburst  of 
rage  and  execration  like  that  which  preceded  the  martyr- 
dom of  Stephen. 

We  have  altogether  three  separate  narratives  of  these 
events  in  this  Book  of  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  The  first 
is  given  by  the  historian  himself,  in  the  ninth  chapter ;  the 
second  is  that  which  is  contained  in  the  address  now  before 
us ;  and  the  third  is  that  embodied  in  the  apostle's  defence 
before  Agrippa.  Now  it  is  interesting  to  mark  how,  while 
agreeing  in  all  material  respects,  these  statements  are  varied 


From  Jerusalem  to  C^sarea.  393 

in  certain  details ;  and  an  explanation  of  the  differences  is 
furnished  by  the  consideration  of  the  object  which  in  each 
address  the  apostle  had  in  view.  The  record  in  the  ninth 
chapter  is  but  an  outline  of  the  main  facts  of  the  case ;  and 
on  the  two  occasions  on  which  he  was  put  upon  his  defence, 
Paul,  drawing  upon  his  own  recollection,  gave  prominence  to 
such  points  as  in  his  judgment  seemed  to  him  to  be  most 
likely  to  meet  the  emergency  of  the  moment.  Thus,  in  the 
present  instance,  his  design  very  obviously  was  to  conciliate 
the  Jews  by  showing  them  that,  so  far  from  being  estranged 
from  them  after  his  conversion,  his  great  desire  had  been  to 
remain  in  Jerusalem  and  labor  there,  and  that  it  was  only 
after  he  had  been  peremptorily  commanded  by  the  Lord  in 
a  vision  to  leave  the  city  and  go  to  the  Gentiles,  that  he 
was  reconciled  to  his  departure.  So  he  sets  in  the  fore- 
front of  his  address  his  education  under  Gamaliel  and  his 
zeal  as  a  persecutor,  appealing  in  proof  of  both  to  the  high- 
priest  and  the  elders.  With  the  same  object  in  view,  we 
find  him  referring  to  Ananias  here  not  as  a  brother  disciple, 
but  as  "  a  devout  man  according  to  the  law,  having  a  good 
report  of  all  the  Jews  which  dwelt  at  Damascus  ;"  for,  though 
it  was  true  that  he  was  both,  it  was  more  important  at  this 
time  to  bring  out  the  latter,  in  order  that  his  hearers  might 
see  that,  having  been  baptized  by  such  a  man,  he  was  not 
likely  to  be  inflamed  with  bigoted  animosity  against  the  Jews. 
In  a  similar  way  we  account  for  the  fact  that,  while  in  his 
speech  before  Agrippa  he  affirms  that  the  Lord  himself,  at 
the  time  of  his  conversion,  gave  him  a  commission  to  the 
Gentiles,  and  in  Luke's  narrative  it  is  alleged  that  a  similar 
announcement  was  made  to  Ananias  when  he  was  sent  to 
baptize  the  new  convert,  there  is  no  mention  made  of  either 
of  these  here.  They  were  both  true,  but  the  apostle  wished 
his  hearers  to  understand,  what  was  also  true,  that  notwith- 
standing both  of  these  intimations  of  the  divine  will  regard- 


394  Paul  the  Missionary. 

ing  him,  he  still  clung  to  the  desire  to  abide  in  Jerusalem, 
and  if  possible  undo  there  the  mischief  which  he  had  done 
by  taking  part  in  the  shedding  of  the  blood  of  Stephen,  and 
that  nothing  but  the  positive  command  of  the  Lord  could 
have  induced  him  to  go  to  the  Gentiles. 

But,  however  persuasively  constructed  Paul's  discourse 
was,  it  failed  to  conciliate  the  crowd.  That  it  held  the  mul- 
titude so  long  as  it  did,  was  no  small  proof  of  its  excellence  ; 
but  at  the  very  mention  of  the  Gentiles,  the  people  became 
frantic ;  and,  with  the  noise  and  gesticulations  for  which 
excited  Orientals  are  proverbial,  they  cried,  "Away  with 
such  a  fellow  from  the  earth :  for  it  is  not  fit  that  he  should 
live !"  For  the  present,  however,  he  was  not  in  their  power. 
He  was  now  the  prisoner  of  Claudius  Lysias,  the  chief  cap- 
tain, who,  though  he  did  not  know  what  to  make  of  the  riot, 
was  not  minded  to  give  him  up  to  popular  fury.  Ignorant 
as  he  was  of  the  Aramaic  dialect,  he  had  not  understood 
what  Paul  had  said ;  but,  as  he  could  not  help  observing 
that  some  of  the  apostle's  words  had  caused  this  new  ex- 
citement, he  commanded  the  centurion  to  examine  him  by 
scourging.  This  required  that  the  accused  person  should 
be  fastened  to  a  stake,  and  that  he  should  be  lashed  with  a 
whip  in  the  intervals  between  the  questions  which  were  put 
to  him.  It  was  supposed  that  thus  he  would  be  induced  to 
make  a  truthful  confession ;  but  surely  no  expectation  could 
be  vainer  in  ordinary  cases  than  that;  for  as  one  has  re- 
marked, "A  person  in  pain  cannot  be  supposed  to  be  master 
of  his  own  thoughts,  and  may  be  induced  to  make  any  dec- 
laration which  shall  procure  immediate  relief  from  his  suf- 
ferings."* Paul,  however,  allowed  himself  to  be  stripped 
and  bound,  and  then,  when  he  had  permitted  the  captain, 
centurion,  and  soldiers   to  commit  themselves   so  far,  he 

*  "Lectures  on  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles,"  by  John  Dick,  D.D.,  p.  388. 


From  Jerusalem  to  C^sarea.  395 

quietly  asked  the  officer.  "  Is  it  lawful  for  you  to  scourge  a 
man  that  is  a  Roman,  and  uncondemned?"  The  effect  was 
immediate.  The  centurion  never  thought  of  doubting  what 
the  apostle  said,  for  it  was  a  capital  crime  for  one  who  was 
not  entitled  to  it  to  claim  the  right  of  citizenship,  and  so  he 
hastened  to  Claudius  and  said  to  him,  "  Take  heed  what 
thou  doest,  for  this  man  is  a  Roman."  The  moment  he 
heard  that,  the  chief  captain  went  to  the  apostle,  and  asked, 
"  Art  thou  a  Roman  ?"  and  receiving  an  affirmative  reply,  he 
said,  as  if  amazed  to  find  one  whose  bodily  presence  was  so 
mean  invested  with  such  a  dignity,  "  With  a  great  sum  ob- 
tained I  this  freedom."  Paul  answered,  with  perhaps  a  par- 
donable pride  in  his  tone, "But  I  was  free  born."  It  thus 
appears  that  his  citizenship  was  not  the  consequence  of  his 
having  been  born  at  Tarsus,  but  came  to  him  by  right  of  in- 
heritance from  his  father ;  for  the  chief  captain  had  been 
already  informed  that  he  was  a  native  of  Tarsus,^*  and  if 
that  had  been  enough  to  make  him  a  Roman,  he  would  not 
have  given  orders  that  he  should  be  scourged.  But  now  he 
felt  that  he  had  already  gone  too  far,  and  was  grateful  that 
the  revelation  had  been  made  before  he  had  committed  any 
greater  indignity.  At  once  all  idea  of  putting  him  to  the 
torture  was  abandoned,  and  one  may  see,  I  think,  from  this 
point  on,  that  Lysias  took  particular  care  that  no  harm 
should  come  to  Paul,  as  if  he  were  trying  to  wipe  out  the 
remembrance  of  the  outrage  which  he  had  all  but  perpe- 
trated. 

The  next  day,  desiring  to  understand  clearly  the  nature 
of  the  disturbance  which  had  taken  place,  and  the  substance 
of  the  charges  which  were  preferred  against  Paul,  Claudius 
loosed  him  from  his  bonds,  and  sent  him  to  appear  before 
the  Jewish  council  of  seventy  whom  he  had  specially  sum-  ' 

*  Acts  xxi.,  39. 


396  Paul  the  Missionary. 

moned  for  the  occasion.  The  usual  meeting-place  of  this 
body  was  the  hall  Gazith,  which  was  separated  from  the 
stairs  of  the  castle  by  but  a  narrow  space ;  but,  as  it  was 
within  the  sacred  precinct,  no  Gentile  could  enter  it;  and 
therefore  we  are  of  opinion  that  in  this  instance  the  San- 
hedrim met  in  another  apartment.  But,  hov/ever  that  may 
have  been,  Paul  could  not  confront  that  assembly  without 
peculiar  emotions.  A  little  more  than  twenty  years  be- 
fore, he  had  been  himself,  as  some  believe,  a  member  of  that 
august  tribunal ;  and,  in  any  case,  he  had  been  familiar  with 
the  appearance  and  characteristics  of  most  of  those  who 
then  belonged  to  it.  Perhaps  there  were  still  some  of  his 
classmates  at  the  school  of  Gamaliel  among  them,  possibly, 
even  some  of  his  companions  in  the  persecution  of  the  first 
disciples.  This  may  account  for  the  peculiar  phrase  with 
which  his  first  expression  before  them  is  here  prefaced : 
"  Paul  earnestly  beholding  the  council."  He  eagerly  scan- 
ned the  company  before  him,  to  discover  what  its  compo- 
sition was,  and  whether  any  of  his  former  associates  were 
there.  Or  perhaps  there  may  be  here  an  allusion  to  that 
infirmity  of  vision  with  which  some  suppose  he  was  afflicted, 
and  the  words  may  describe  that  sort  of  intent  and  forward 
inspection  with  which  one  who  is  near-sighted  seeks  to 
make  himself  acquainted  with  the  distant  objects  and  per- 
sons in  a  large  apartment. 

He  spoke  as  a  Jew  to  Jews,  as  an  equal  to  equals — "  Men 
and  brethren" — and  boldly  asserted  his  consciousness  of 
rectitude  in  all  his  conduct.  "  I  have  lived  in  all  good  con- 
science before  God  until  this  day."  This  was  deemed  an 
insult  by  Ananias,  the  high  -  priest,  who  commanded  them 
that  stood  by  to  smite  him  on  the  mouth,  whereupon,  with 
impassioned  indignation,  the  apostle  exclaimed,  "  God  shall 
smite  thee,  thou  whited  wall :  for  sittest  thou  to  judge  me 
after  the  law,  and  commandest  me  to  be  smitten  contrary  to 


From  Jerusalem  to  C^esarea.  397 

the  law  ?"  Different  opinions  have  been  entertained  about 
this  expression.  Some  consider  that  it  was  uttered  in  pro- 
phetic fervor,  and  remind  us  that  the  prediction  was  terri- 
bly fulfilled,  when  this  haughty  prelate,  after  having  been 
removed  from  the  high  -  priesthood,  was  murdered  by  the 
sicarii  in  the  Jewish  war.*  Others,  with  whom  we  are  dis- 
posed to  agree,  regard  the  words  as  an  outburst  of  temper 
in  a  moment  of  extreme  provocation.  Paul  was  a  man  of 
like  passions  with  ourselves.  He  had,  as  I  have  already 
said,  a  peculiarly  sensitive  organization ;  and  we  cannot 
wonder  if,  under  the  wanton  insult  which  had  been  offered 
to  him,  he  lost  his  self-control.  It  is  not  given  to  many 
to  preserve  in  all  circumstances  the  unbroken  meekness 
of  Him  who  was  led  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter,  and  who 
was  dumb  as  a  sheep  before  the  shearers.  Even  the  great- 
est of  the  apostles  fell  short  of  the  perfection  of  the  Mas- 
ter, and  is  to  be  followed  only  so  far  as  he  followed  Christ, 
so  that,  as  Alford  has  remarked,  this  answer  of  Paul  "  may 
go  far  to  excuse  a  like  fervid  reply  in  a  Christian,  or  minis- 
ter of  the  Gospel,  but  must  never  be  used  to  justify  it :  it 
may  serve  for  an  apology,  but  never  for  an  example."! 

But  the  apostle  was  not  long  in  recovering  himself,  for 
when  the  by-standers  said, "  Revilest  thou  God's  high-priest  ?" 
he  replied, "  I  wist  not,  brethren,  that  he  was  the  high-priest : 
for  it  is  written.  Thou  shalt  not  speak  evil  of  the  ruler  of  thy 
people."  Of  this  answer,  also,  different  explanations  have 
been  given.  Those  who  believe  that  the  apostle  spoke  of 
Ananias  as  a  whited  wall  not  in  hastiness  of  temper,  but  in 
righteous  indignation,  would  interpret  this  rejoinder  some- 
how thus  :  "  I  did  not  know,  and  do  not  know  now,  that  he 
is  God's  high-priest.     I  know  that  the  office  of  high-priest 


*  Josephus,  "  Wars,"  ii.,  17,  2-9. 

t  Alford's  **  Greek  Testament,"  in  loco. 


398  Paul  the  Missionary. 

among  you  exists  only  in  name,  and  that  very  soon  that 
too  will  be  done  away,  so  as  to  leave  no  vestige  of  that 
ancient  dignity,  which  I  could  not  have  reviled  without  a 
flagrant  violation  of  the  law,  'Thou  shalt  not  speak  evil  of 
the  ruler  of  thy  people.'  "  This  interpretation,  though  very 
ably  advocated  by  the  late  Dr.  Addison  Alexander,  of  Prince- 
ton, is,  in  my  judgment,  a  little  far-fetched  and  unsatisfacto- 
ry ;  nor  would  it  have  been -resorted  to  but  for  the  fact  that 
its  author  felt  himself  compelled  to  take  a  view  of  the  Sav- 
iour's promise  to  his  followers,  which  seems  to  me  to  make  it 
amount  to  a  guarantee  for  their  personal  infallibility  when- 
ever they  should  be  placed  before  an  earthly  tribunal.  I 
am  disposed,  therefore,  to  take  the  words  in  their  natural 
meaning,  as  an  expression  of  the  fact  that  the  apostle  did 
not  really  know  that  the  person  who  had  given  the  com- 
mand to  smite  him  was  the  high-priest.  And  if  I  am  asked 
for  an  explanation  of  this  ignorance  of  Paul,  I  find  it  in  one 
or  other  of  three  suppositions  :  either  the  high-priest  did  not 
wear  the  official  robes  by  which  usually  he  was  distinguish- 
ed, an  omission  which,  if  the  meeting  was  not  held  in  the  ac- 
customed place  within  the  Temple,  may  be  easily  accounted 
for ;  or  he  was  not  at  this  time  the  president  of  the  council, 
and  so  did  not  occupy  the  place  in  which  the  apostle  would 
naturally  have  looked  for  him ;  or  more  simply  still,  the 
near-sightedness  of  the  apostle  prevented  him  from  recog- 
nizing the  official  dignity  of  the  man  who  spoke  so  roughly. 
Thus  regarded,  the  words  of  Paul  are  an  explanation  of  his 
former  expression,  and  a  frank,  courteous,  and  gentlemanly 
apology  for  the  impropriety  of  his  hasty  speech. 

But  whatever  view  may  be  taken  of  this  reply,  the  inter- 
ruption with  which  it  was  connected  made  it  abundantly 
plain  to  the  apostle  that  he  need  not  look  for  impartial 
treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  council ;  and,  therefore,  he  re- 
solved to  take  such  measures  as  might  divert  the  energy  of 


From  Jerusalem  to  C^sarea.  399 

his  adversaries  into  another  direction.  Remembering  well 
the  bitterness  of  the  old  debates  between  the  Pharisees  and 
the  Sadducees,  and  having  now,  as  a  Christian,  stronger  con- 
victions than  ever  as  to  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  the 
resurrection  of  the  body,  he  cried  out,  "  Men  and  brethren, 
I  am  a  Pharisee,  the  son  of  a  Pharisee :  of  the  hope  and 
resurrection  of  the  dead  I  am  called  in  question."  The 
Sadducees  were  the  broad  school  of  the  Jewish  Church,  and 
rejected  the  doctrine  of  the  existence  of  angels  or  spirit, 
while  they  treated  the  idea  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead 
with  ridicule  and  scorn.  The  Pharisees,  on  the  other  hand, 
were  orthodox  Jews,  and  contended  earnestly  for  the  things 
which  the  Sadducees  denied.  Now,  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead  had  been  assured  to  Paul  by  the  rising  of  Christ  from 
the  grave ;  and  the  resurrection  of  Christ  was  the  cardinal 
fact  in  the  Gospel  history.  In  referring  to  it  here,  there- 
fore, we  may  suppose  that  his  main  purpose  was  to  meet  the 
Pharisees  on  that  which  was  common  ground  both  to  him 
and  them.  As  in  Lycaonia,  he  took  his  hearers  first  on  the 
lower  level  of  natural  religion,  in  order  the  better  thereby  to 
lead  them  to  Christ ;  and  as  in  Athens  he  began  his  address 
to  the  philosophers  with  the  quotation  of  an  inscription  from 
one  of  their  own  altars,  so  now  he  proclaims  his  agreement 
with  the  Pharisees  in  the  more  important  parts  of  their 
creed,  with  the  view,  if  the  opportunity  offered,  of  leading 
them  up  to  that  Saviour  whose  resurrection  had  forever  set- 
tled the  question  which  was  in  dispute  between  them  and 
the  Sadducees.  Thus  he  lifts  the  council  above  all  paltry 
questions  about  himself,  and  fixes  the  attention  of  its  mem- 
bers upon  the  most  momentous  subjects  that  can  occupy 
the  minds  of  men. 

Perhaps,  also,  he  had  the  conviction  that,  even  if  he  could 
not  thus  gain  the  Pharisees  for  Christ,  he  would  at  least  di- 
vide the  ranks  of  his  hearers,  and  so  set  them  against  each 


400  Paul  the  Missionary. 

other  that  they  would  forget  their  animosity  to  him.  In 
either  case  the  result  would  be  advantageous,  and  therefore 
he  flung  among  them  this  lighted  brand,  and  waited  to  see 
whether  it  would  kindle  them  into  inquir}^,  or  set  them  on 
fire  with  controversial  zeal.  The  latter  was  the  effect  pro- 
duced. On  the  one  part,  the  Sadducees  were  bitter  in  their 
antagonism  ;  on  the  other,  the  Pharisees  were  ardent  in  their 
support.  Consistency  constrained  the  latter  to  admit  that 
he  might  be  right.  They  said,  "  He  told  us  yesterday  of  a 
vision  which  he  had  in  the  Temple,  and  for  all  you  say  to 
the  contrary,  O  ye  Sadducees,  it  is  possible  that  a  spirit  or 
an  angel  did  speak  unto  him.  Now,  if  that  were  indeed  the 
case,  then  in  fighting  against  him  ye  are  fighting  against 
God."  Curious,  is  it  not,  that  they  came  so  near  the  truth  ? 
Yet  this  frank  admission  of  the  possibilities  of  the  case  was 
owing  more  to  their  desire  to  silence  their  old  adversaries, 
than  to  any  intelligent  conviction  which  they  had  of  the 
correctness  of  Paul's  doctrines.  They  did  not  care  for  him 
save  only  as  a  means  of  humbling  them ;  and  thus  the  meet- 
ing degenerated  into  a  wrangle  over  him,  in  which  he  was 
in  danger  of  being  pulled  in  pieces  between  them.  This, 
however,  the  chief  captain  could  not  permit.  The  life  of  a 
Roman  citizen  was  in  peril,  and  therefore  he  sent  his  sol- 
diers to  bring  the  apostle  back  into  the  castle. 

And  now  that  he  was  left  alone,  the  heart  of  Paul  might 
begin  to  sink  within  him.  Was  this,  indeed,  the  result  of 
his  fondly-cherished  purpose  to  visit  Rome  ?  Hardly  had 
he  set  foot  in  Jerusalem  before  he  was  in  bonds ;  and  this  to 
one  of  his  active  habits,  and  eager  as  he  was  to  be  useful  to 
his  fellow-men,  would  be  a  great  affliction.  .  He  would  feel 
himself  to  be  held  back  from  the  great  labor  and  joy  of  his 
life,  and  would  be  in  danger  of  falling  into  despondency. 
But  God  came  timely  to  his  aid.  In  the  night  he  had  a 
vision,  in  which  the  Lord  said  to  him,  "  Be  of  good  cheer, 


From  Jerusalem  to  C^esarea.  401 

Paul :  for  as  thou  hast  testified  of  me  in  Jerusalem,  so  must 
thou  bear  witness  also  at  Rome  j"  and  with  that  gracious 
assurance  he  was  satisfied.  He  did  not  distress  himself 
about  the  manner  of  his  going  :  he  was  content  with  the 
pledge  that  he  should  go,  and  he  left  the  rest  to  God,  de- 
termined only  to  wait  and  w^atch  for  the  development  of  the 
purpose  of  his  Lord  concerning  him. 

The  following  day  a  formidable  conspiracy  was  organized 
for  his  destruction.  Forty  men  bound  themselves  with  an 
oath  that  they  would  neither  eat  nor  drink  until  they  had 
slain  him,  and  they  asked  the  chief  priests  and  elders  to 
lend  themselves  to  their  scheme.  They  proposed  that  the 
council  should  request  the  captain  to  send  Paul  down  to 
them  once  more  on  the  pretence  that  they  wished  to  make 
some  fuller  inquiry  into  his  case,  and  they  promised  that 
they  would  make  away  with  him  before  he  could  reach  the 
place  of  meeting.  It  was  adroitly  planned ;  and  the  men, 
whose  predecessors  in  office  did  not  scruple  to  give  money 
for  the  betrayal  of  Jesus,  would  not  hesitate  about  accept- 
ing this  proposal  for  the  murder  of  his  disciple.  But  God 
had  otherwise  determined ;  and  he  is  never  at  a  loss  for  in- 
struments to  carry  out  his  designs.  By  some  means,  not 
known  to  us,  and  yet  not  to  be  wondered  at  by  us — for  a 
secret  cannot  long  be  a  secret  that  is  known  to  forty  men — 
the  existence  of  the  plot  became  known  to  Paul's  nephew, 
who  was  then  in  Jerusalem,  and  who,  with  exemplary  pru- 
dence, at  once  informed  his  uncle  of  the  pit  that  had  been 
dug  for  him.  The  apostle  immediately  procured  for  him 
an  audience  with  the  chief  captain,  who  heard  the  stor}' 
with  all  the  courtesy  of  an  educated  Roman;  and  after 
cautioning  his  informant  to  tell  no  one  that  he  had  spoken 
with  him,  he  took  instant  measures  to  frustrate  the  designs 
of  the  conspirators.  He  ordered  a  contingent  of  men,  both 
cavalry  and  infantry,  to  be   ready  to  proceed  to  Caesarea 


402  Paul  the  Missionary. 

that  night  at  nine  o'clock;  and  when  that  hour  arrived,  he 
sent  Paul  with  them  on  horseback,  with  a  relay  of  horses, 
that  there  might  be  no  delay  by  the  way.  He  gave  them 
also  a  letter  to  Felix,  the  governor,  whose  official  residence 
was  at  Caesarea.  This  letter,  which  I  think  Luke  must  have 
seen  and  copied,  is  given  here  in  full,  and  is  an  interesting 
specimen  of  the  official  correspondence  of  the  period.  It 
gives  a  fair  account  of  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  except 
in  one  particular,  in  regard  to  which  Claudius  screens  him- 
self by  a  deviation  from  the  truth.  He  makes  it  appear  that 
his  first  interference  on  Paul's  behalf  was  in  consequence 
of  his  having  discovered  that  he  was  a  Roman  citizen ; 
whereas  he  did  not  find  out  that  fact  until  the  centurion, 
by  his  orders,  was  in  the  act  of  preparing  to  examine  him 
by  scourging.  But,  unhappily,  this  indifference  to  truth, 
when  personal  interests  are  involved,  was  far  from  uncom- 
mon among  the  Romans,  even  as  it  is  not  utterly  unknown 
among  ourselves. 

Guarded  by  his  military  convoy,  Paul  went  by  night  to 
Antipatris,  a  distance  of  about  forty-two  miles  from  Jerusa- 
lem. Here  the  foot-soldiers  were  sent  back  to  the  castle  of 
Antonia,  and  the  remainder  of  the  journey — some  twenty-six 
miles — was  made  by  him  with  the  cavalry  escort  alone.  On 
the  arrival  of  the  party  at  Caesarea,  the  officer  in  charge  took 
Paul  at  once  to  Felix,  and  delivered  the  letter  with  which 
Claudius  had  intrusted  him.  When  the  governor  had  read 
that,  he  simply  asked  to  what  province  the  apostle  belonged  ; 
and  when  he  learned  that  he  was  from  Cilicia,  he  signified 
his  intention  of  hearing  his  case,  when,  according  to  the  ar- 
rangement made  by  Lysias,  his  accusers  should  appear. 
Then  he  ordered  that  he.  should  be  kept  in  Herod's  palace, 
of  which  he  was  at  the  time  himself  an  occupant.  Here, 
however,  it  will  be  convenient  for  us  to  suspend  this  inter- 
esting history,  that  we  may  give  point  to  some  of  the  les- 


From  Jerusalem  to  C^sarea.  403 

sons  which  we  may  learn  from  the  record  over  which  we 
have  come. 

We  are  taught,  then,  in  the  first  place,  that  prudence  as 
well  as  courage  is  needful  in  the  service  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
We  cannot  read  the  address  of  our  apostle  from  the  castle 
stairs,  or  the  account  of  his  bearing  in  the  presence  of  the 
council,  without  marvelling  at  the  sagacity  which  he  showed 
on  both  occasions.  He  was  as  far  removed  from  rashness 
as  from  cowardice ;  and  he  had  in  him  nothing  of  that  fool- 
ish eagerness  for  martyrdom  which  is  seen  in  many  Chris- 
tians of  the  early  centuries.  Everything  which  without  com- 
promising conscience  or  sacrificing  principle  he  could  do, 
either  for  the  conciliation  of  others  or  for  his  own  safety, 
was  cheerfully  done  by  him.  Thus,  in  his  defence  before 
the  people,  he  took  pains  so  to  arrange  his  words  as  to  be- 
speak their  attention  ;  and  it  w^as  not  until,  by  the  necessity 
of  his  position,  he  had  to  refer  to  his  mission  to  the  Gen- 
tiles, that  he  uttered  that  sentence  by  which  they  were  en- 
raged. In  the  same  way,  when  the  ignominy  of  scourging 
was  about  to  be  inflicted  on  him,  he  was  not  above  stand- 
ing on  his  undoubted  right  as  a  Roman  citizen.  And  when 
he  was  before  the  council,  he  so  put  his  case  as-  to  gain  at 
least  the  sympathy  of  some  of  his  hearers,  and  divide  his 
antagonists  into  two  contending  parties.  Now,  in  all  this 
he  has  set  us  an  example  which  we  may  profitably  follow. 

Just  before  the  disruption  of  the  Scottish  Church,  the 
great  philosopher,  Sir  William  Hamilton,  who  was  then  a 
professor  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  issued  an  appeal 
to  the  party  which  was  led  by  Dr.  Chalmers,  bearing  these 
words  as  its  title,  "Be  not  martyrs  by  mistake."  Now, 
though  his  application  of  that  advice  to  the  case  in  point 
was  open  to  question — was,  in  my  judgment,  inappropriate, 
and  indeed  inaccurate  —  yet  the  advice  itself,  taken  as  a 
general  maxim,  is  full  of  wisdom.     We  are  not  to  elevate  a 


404  Paul  the  Missionary. 

minor  scruple  to  the  height  of  an  essential  doctrine  of  the 
faith,  and  make  enemies  for  ourselves  by  the  manner  of  our 
advocacy  of  something  which  is  not  worth  disputing  about. 
Neither  are  we  to  throw  our  lives  away,  when  by  the  slight- 
est exercise  of  prudence  they  may  be  preserved  for  further 
service  in  the  Master's  cause.  This,  indeed,  so  far  as  I  can 
understand  them,  is  the  meaning  of  the  preacher's  words, 
"  Be  not  righteous  overmuch :  why  shouldest  thou  destroy 
thyself  ?"*  and  if  we  examine  the  records  of  church  history, 
we  shall  find  that  many  who  shed  their  blood  apparently  for 
Christ  have  really  been  martyrs  either  to  their  own  folly, 
which  would  not  use  perfectly  allowable  means  for  their  de- 
liverance, or  to  their  own  pride,  which  would  not  let  them 
yield  what  without  any  disloyalty  to  the  Great  Master  they 
might  very  well  have  conceded.  When  we  take  a  stand, 
therefore,  let  us  be  sure  that  we  are  taking  it  from  a  regard 
to  Christ,  and  not  simply  from  self-conceit.  And  when  we 
are  called  to  suffer  as  Paul  was  here,  let  us  be  sure  that 
we  have  done  everything  short  of  giving  up  principle,  to 
prevent  such  an  issue.  If  men  are  offended,  let  us  take 
care  that  it  is  at  the  truth,  and  not  at  anything  that  is  con- 
nected simply  with  ourselves.  With  all  the  prudence  we 
can  exercise,  we  may  lay  our  account  with  frequent  failures. 
We  shall  not  always  succeed  in  gaining  our  adversaries  for 
Christ,  or  in  securing  our  own  safety ;  but  then,  when  we 
have  taken  all  precautions,  we  shall  be  perfectly  clear  that 
we  are  suffering  for  Christ,  and  so  we  shall  have  a  claim 
upon  his  presence  and  assistance.  How  many  young  min- 
isters have  destroyed  their  happiness  for  the  time,  and  per- 
haps also  impaired  their  usefulness  for  life,  by  the  lack  of 
just  such  wisdom — or  call  it  rather  common-sense— as  Paul 
was  continually  manifesting  !     They  will  not  study  men. 

*  Eccles.  vii,,  16. 


From  Jerusalem  to  Cesarea.  405 

They  will  not  endeavor  in  any  degree  to  become,  even  in 
things  indifferent,  "  all  things  to  all  men."  They  are  for- 
ever taking  their  position  on  some  little  thing  of  no  conse- 
quence whatever,  and  saying  regarding  it,  "  By  this  I  stand 
or  fall ;"  and  of  course  they  fall,  and  they  fall  covered  not 
with  the  glory  of  Christian  martyrdom,  but  with  the  dis- 
grace of  ignorance  and  self-conceit.  Whosoever  you  are, 
therefore,  who  are  professing  to  work  for  Christ,  see  that  it 
is  for  Christ  you  are  working,  and  go  to  work  wisely.  Do 
not  alienate  from  you,  by  your  extreme  views  or  your  cut- 
ting criticisms,  those  who  are  in  the  Church.  Look  for  that 
which  is  best  in  everybody,  and  address  yourselves  to  that 
in  recognition  and  love.  Above  all,  consider  well  what  shall 
be  the  probable  results  of  your  conduct  in  a  given  case. 
Remember  that  no  one  is  perfect  —  not  even  yourselves  ; 
and  seek  as  far  as  practicable,  without  sacrificing  principle, 
to  adapt  yourselves  to  the  imperfections  of  those  with  whom 
you  have  to  work.  Do  not  burn  down  the  church  simply 
that  you  may  warm  your  hands  at  the  blaze ;  for  if  you  do, 
you  will  find  that  you  are  yourselves  so  scarred  by  the 
flames,  that  men  will  keep  their  distance  from  you  for  the 
rest  of  your  lives.  How  often,  alas,  a  man  runs  madly 
against  a  pillar  expecting  to  be  called  a  martyr  to  some 
great  principle,  and  finds,  in  his  sorrowful  retrospect,  that 
he  has  been  a  "  martyr  by  mistake  !" 

We  are  taught,  in  the  second  place,  by  this  history,  that 
when  we  are  in  the  greatest  extremity  God  will  come  to  us 
with  his  richest  consolation.  What  a  good  Master  Paul 
served !  Who  can  read  without  emotion  the  account  of  the 
vision  with  which  he  was  favored  on  the  first  night  of  his 
imprisonment,  ere  yet  he  had  become  accustomed  to  his 
chain,  when  he  was  in  danger  of  sinking  into  despondency, 
and  was  beginning  to  fear  lest  his  cherished  visit  to  the 
great  imperial  metropolis  would  never  be  accomplished  ? 


4o6  Paul  the  Missionary. 

"  Be  of  good  cheer,  Paul :  for  as  thou  hast  testified  of  me 
in  Jerusalem,  so  must  thou  bear  witness  also  at  Rome." 
Truly  it  is  written,  "A  bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break,  and 
the  smoking  flax  shall  he  not  quench."  When  we  review  the 
accounts  of  the  doings  and  sufferings  of  the  people  of  God 
in  other  days,  we  are  sometimes  apt  to  say  within  ourselves 
that,  if  we  had  been  in  their  circumstances,  we  should  sure- 
ly have  given  way,  and  brought  dishonor  on  the  Christian 
name,  and  we  begin  to  suspect  that  we  are  not  Christians 
at  all.  But  we  forget.  God  fitted  them  by  his  special  grace 
for  their  special  work ;  and  if  ever  again  similar  demands 
shall  be  made  upon  his  servants,  he  will  similarly  endow 
them  to  meet  them.  So,  again,  when  we  peruse  the  records 
of  the  experiences  of  believers  on  their  death -beds  with 
which  Christian  biography  abounds,  we  may  be  apt  to  think 
that  we  could  not  be  like  them  in  the  hour  and  article  of 
dying,  and  we  begin  to  question  the  genuineness  of  our  faith. 
But  here,  too,  we  forget;  for  what  mean  these  words,  "At 
evening  time  it  shall  be  light ;"  and  again, "  My  strength  is 
made  perfect  in  weakness  "  ?  It  is  good  to  be  in  Christ — in- 
deed, indispensable  to  be  in  Christ — and  so  to  be  always 
ready  for  death ;  but  that  is  a  different  thing  from  always 
feeling  ready  to  die  ;  and  I  have  never  recognized  the  ques- 
tion, "  Are  you  ready  to  die?"  as  a  true  or  proper  test  where- 
with to  try  a  man's  spiritual  condition.  When  a  Christian 
is  to  die,  God  will  give  him  the  feeling  of  readiness  to  die. 
In  the  good  old-fashioned  phrase,  "he  will  give  dying  grace 
for  a  dying  hour,"  just  as  here  he  gave  Paul  peculiar  help 
for  a  peculiar  necessity.  Courage,  then,  my  brother  !  Do 
the  work  that  is  at  thy  hand  for  Christ's  sake,  and  out  of 
love  to  him.  Leave  everything  else  to  him.  Do  not  meet 
difficulties  until  they  come ;  for  when  they  come  he  will  give 
thee  strength  to  overcome  them.  Do  not  trouble  thyself, 
either,  about  dying.     God  does  not  wish  the  pathway  of  thy 


From  Jerusalem  to  Cesarea.  407 

life  to  be  forever  darkened  with  the  shadow  of  death.  Go 
forward,  and  when  thou  comest  to  the  river  thou  shalt  find 
the  ark  of  the  covenant  already  in  it,  and  thou  shalt  pass 
over  dry-shod — ay,  though  it  should  be  the  time  of  harvest, 
when  usually  the  floods  are  out ! 

Finally,  we  may  learn  from  this  chajDter  of  Paul's  history, 
that  though  God's  promise  is  apparently  unqualified,  it  does 
not  absolve  us  from  the  prompt  and  energetic  use  of  means. 
The  Lord  assured  Paul  that  he  should  bear  witness  of  him 
at  Rome ;  yet  when  the  apostle  heard  of  the  conspiracy  of 
the  Jews  to  take  away  his  life,  he  did  not  fall  back  upon 
that  promise  with  folded  hands,  and  take  no  measures  to  in- 
sure his  safety.  On  the  contrar}^ — and  here  again  we  see 
his  admirable  common-sense — he  sent  his  nephew  at  once 
to  the  chief  captain,  and  did  all  that  was  in  his  power  to 
baffle  the  designs  of  the  conspirators.  Now,  it  is  the  same 
with  all  the  promises  which  God  has  given.  They  are  ful- 
filled through  the  co-operation  of  human  agency  with  the 
divine,  and  both  are  needful  to  gain  the  end.  That  is  not 
faith,  therefore,  but  presumption,  which  ignores  all  means, 
and  expects  that  the  blessing  will  come.  The  offering  of  a 
prayer  binds  us  to  the  use  of  means  for  the  securing  of  its 
answer.  The  trusting  of  a  promise  will  bring  only  disap- 
pointment to  us  unless,  like  Paul  here,  we  take  measures — 
such  at  least  as  are  in  our  own  power — to  secure  its  fulfil- 
ment. God  promises  us  the  victory,  but  it  is  in  connection 
with  the  command,  "  Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith."  God 
promises  us  a  harvest ;  but  it  is  after  this  fashion,  "  Be  not 
weary  in  well-doing :  for  in  due  season  we  shall  reap,  if  we 
faint  not."  There  is  no  reaping  assured  to  isolated  effort, 
or  to  fitful,  spasmodic  labor ;  but  only  to  a  sustained  course 
of  perseverance  in  well-doing.  God  promises  the  crown  of 
life,  but  it  is  on  this  wise  :  "  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and 
I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life."     So  in  regard  to  temporal 

18 


AoS  Paul  the  Missionary. 

blessings.  It  is  the  hand  of  the  diligent  that  maketh  rich ; 
and  if  we  go  down  upon  our  knees  and  cry  for  bread,  while 
yet  we  take  no  measures  to  obtain  the  labor  by  which  we 
may  earn  it,  we  are  insulting  God,  even  when  we  are  seem- 
ing most  to  trust  him.  Effort  without  prayer  is  impiety; 
prayer  without  effort  is  mockery.  In  the  union  of  the  two 
is  the  highest  wisdom.  /- 


XXII. 

PAUL  BEFORE  FELIX:  FELIX  BEFORE  PAUL. 

Acts  xxiv. 

BEFORE  entering  upon  the  details  of  Paul's  trial  at  the 
bar  of  Felix,  we  must  interpolate  a  brief  summary  of 
some  leading  events  in  Jewish  history,  together  with  a  short 
description  of  the  characters  of  those  persons  who  now,  for 
the  first  time,  make  their  appearance  in  our  narrative. 

When  Herod  Agrippa,  the  King  of  the  Jews,  expired  at 
C^sarea,  under  the  circumstances  described  in  the  twelfth 
chapter  of  The  Acts,  he  left  four  children— one  son,  Agrippa 
the  younger,  who  will  soon  come  before  us  as  the  guest  of 
Festus,  and  three  daughters,  Bernice,  Mariamne,  and  Dru- 
siUa.    'The   Roman  Emperor,  Claudius,  had  promised  the 
youthful  Agrippa  that  he  should  sit  upon  his  father's  throne  ; 
but  under  the  influence  of  Agrippina,  the  empress,  he  kept 
the  Jewish  prince  at  Rome  on  the  plea  that  he  was  too 
young  to  bear  the  burden  of  royalty,  and  sent  Cuspius  Fa- 
dus  out  to  Be  the  governor  of  Judaea,  which  thus  relapsed 
into  a  Roman  province.     After  two  years,  this  man  was  su- 
perseded by  Tiberius  Alexander,  a  renegade  Jew,  who  had 
turned  heathen  to  advance  his  worldly  interests.     In  two 
years  more  he  too  was  displaced,  and  succeeded  by  Ven- 
tidius  Cumanus,  whose  term  of  office  was  characterized  by  so 
many  tumults  and  enormities  that  he  was  sent  to  Rome  to 
give  an  account  of  his  stewardship  before  the  emperor,  the 
result  being  that  he  was  banished,  and  Antonius  Felix  was 


41  o  Paul  the  Missionary. 

appointed  in  his  room.  This  man,  originally  a  slave,  was 
the  brother  of  Pallas,  one  of  the  freeclmen  of  the  Emperor, 
and  at  this  time  his  particular  favorite.  To  the  influence 
of  Pallas,  seconded  by  that  of  the  Empress  Agrippina,  and 
supported  also,  in  an  evil  hour  for  himself,  by  the  Jewish 
high-priest  Jonathan,  Felix  owed  his  elevation  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  Judaea.  His  character  has  been  thus  described 
by  the  historian  Tacitus :  "  In  the  practice  of  all  kinds  of 
cruelty  and  lust,  he  exercised  the  power  of  a  king  v/ith  the 
temper  of  a  slave  j"  and  again  :  "  He  did  not  think  it  need- 
ful to  put  any  restraint  on  his  desires,  but  considered  his 
connection  with  the  emperor's  favorite  as  a  license  for  the 
worst  of  crimes."*  His  period  of  office  was  full  of  troubles 
and  seditions,  but  he  had  a  ready  and  unscrupulous  prompt- 
itude which  succeeded  in  stamping  out  rebellion  for  the 
time  by  the  use  of  the  harshest  measures.  When  Jonathan, 
the  high-priest,  expostulated  with  him  for  his  conduct,  it  was 
generally  believed  that  he  hired  assassins,  who  slew  the  prel- 
ate within  the  very  precincts  of  the  Temple ;  and  to  his  ad- 
ministration we  may  apply,  with  even  greater  pertinence, 
the  words  which  Milman  has  used  with  reference  to  that  of 
Cumanus,  and  say  that  in  it  "  the  low  and  sullen  murmurs 
which  announced  the  approaching  eruption  of  the  dark  vol- 
cano, now  gathering  in  Palestine,  became  more  distinct."t 
In  private  life  he  was  equally  reprehensible,  for  he  allowed 
no  considerations  of  justice  or  morality  to  stand  between 
him  and  the  gratification  of  his  wishes.  Becoming  enam- 
ored of  Drusilla,  sister  of  Agrippa,  and  one  of  the  greatest 
beauties  of  her  time,  he  employed  the  Cyprian  soothsayer, 
Simon — by  some  supposed  to  have  been  identical  with  Si- 
mon Magus — to  persuade  her  to  elope  to  him  from  her  hus- 


*  Tacitus,  "  Ann.,"  xii.,  54 ;  "  History,"  v.,  9. 
t  "  History  of  the  Jews,"  vol.  ii,,  p.  174. 


Paul  before  Felix:   Felix  before  Paul.        411 

band,  Azizus,  King  of  Emesa ;  and  at  the  time  to  which  our 
history  belongs,  these  two  were  living  at  Cssarea  in  adul- 
terous alliance.  Such  was  the  judge  at  whose  bar  the  apos- 
tle was  now  to  stand.  Let  us  see  how  the  proceedings  were 
conducted. 

It  was  an  understood  regulation  in  the  Roman  courts, 
that"  a  prisoner  was  to  be  brought  up  for  trial  as  soon  as 
possible  after  his  apprehension ;  therefore,  five  days  after 
Paul's  removal  from  Jerusalem  to  Caesarea,  the  Jews  made 
their  appearance  in  the  palace  hall  to  prosecute  their  case. 
They  were  headed  by  Ananias,  the  high-priest,  and  accom- 
panied by  a  barrister  named  Tertullus.     Judging  from  his 
name,  this  lawyer  was  probably  a  Roman ;  and  we  know 
that  it  was  not  uncommon  at  that  date  for  young  advocates 
to  leave  the  metropolis  for  a  time,  and,  in  the  wake  of  some 
newly -appointed  governor,  go  out  to  one  or  other  of  the 
provinces,  so  that  by  practising  in  the  courts  abroad  they 
might  the  better  fit  themselves  for  rising  to  eminence  in  the 
Forum  at  home.     It  fell  upon  Tertullus  here,  as  counsel  for 
the  prosecution,  to  open  the  case.     He  began,  as  was  cus- 
tomary, with  a  compliment  to  the  judge ;   but  in  the  very 
framing  of  that,  he  must  have  felt  himself  considerably  em- 
barrassed.   Felix  was  neither  a  good  governor  nor  a  respect- 
able man  ;  moreover,  he  was  heartily  hated  by  the  Jews.     If, 
therefore,  the  orator  had  praised  him  overmuch,  he  would 
have  offended  his  clients  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  if  he  had 
refrained  from  all  eulogy,  he  might  have  displeased  Felix, 
and  thus  lost  his  cause.     Therefore,  with  a  tact  which  is  as 
creditable  to  his  ingenuity  as  to  his  honesty,  he  fixed  upon 
the  only  thing  that  was  praiseworthy  in  the  government  of 
the  procurator,  and  made  honorable  mention  of  the  energy 
and  success  with  which  he  had  repressed  freebooters  and 
rebels  in  the  land,  and  thereby  preserved  something  like  or- 
der among  the  people.     This  done,  he  went  on  to  prefer  his 


412  Paul  the  Missionary. 

accusation  against  Paul,  speaking,  of  course,  from  the  brief 
with  which  he  had  been  furnished.  Luke  has  given  us  only 
the  heads  of  the  indictment,  but  he  has  said  enough  to  let 
us  clearly  understand  the  object  which  the  adversaries  of 
the  apostle  had  in  view.  Tertullus  accused  him  of  three 
things :  first,  of  being  a  mover  of  sedition  among  the  Jews 
throughout  the  empire ;  second,  of  being  a  ringleader  in  the 
sect  of  the  Nazarenes ;  and  third,  of  having  profaned  the 
Temple  of  Jerusalem.  The  first  of  these  charges  was  an 
offence  against  Roman  law,  and  amounted  to  an  accusation 
of  treason  against  the  emperor;  but  there  was  evidently  no 
intention  of  pressing  that.  The  other  two  were  violations 
of  the  Jewish  law;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  de- 
sign of  Tertullus,  as  instructed  by  the  Jews,  was  to  get  the 
governor  to  send  the  case  back  to  the  council  at  Jerusalem, 
as  being  one  that  more  properly  belonged  to  its  jurisdiction. 
If  he  had  done  that,  then  the  Jews  would  have  had  Paul 
completely  in  their  power,  and  would  have  made  short  work 
with  his  execution.  I  do  not  suppose  that  they  told  Tertul- 
lus all  that  was  in  their  minds,  or  that  he  was  in  any  sense 
a  partner  in  their  plot;  but  that  he  meant,  if  possible,to  have 
Paul  sent  back  to  Jerusalem,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
he  attempted  to  convey  the  impression  that  Lysias  had,  with 
great  violence,  removed  the  apostle  from  the  council  when 
he  was  actually  standing  before  its  tribunal.  Tertullus  put 
the  case,  no  doubt,  as  it  had  been  represented  to  him ;  but 
we  know  how  untrue  that  representation  was.  We  have 
seen  how,  so  far  from  seeking  to  judge  Paul  according  to 
their  law,  they  would  once  and  again  have  torn  him  in 
pieces  without  any  show  of  trial,  but  for  the  interference 
of  the  chief  captain.  We  have  seen,  too,  that  his  appear- 
ance before  the  council  at  all  was  at  the  instance  of  the 
captain,  that  he  might  learn  something  more  concerning 
him,  and  that  consequently  Paul  had  never  been  a  criminal 


Paul  before  Feltx  :   Felix  before  Paul.        413 

before  its  bar.  But  they  wanted  to  have  him  back,  that 
they  might  destroy  him ;  and  so  they  gave  to  TertulUis  this 
version  of  the  story,  whicli  he  set  forth  in  the  court  with  all 
the  added  attractiveness  of  eloquence,  and  then,  with  a  ref- 
erence to  the  number  and  respectability  of  his  witnesses,  he 
resumed  his  seat. 

When  he  had  ceased,  his  clients  signified  their  approval 
of  all  that  he  had  advanced  on  their  behalf,  and  then  the 
governor  asked  what  Paul  had  to  say  for  himself.  Very 
quietly  the  apostle  commences  his  reply,  and  as  he  pro- 
ceeds, we  note  the  courtesy,  the  calmness,  the  dignity,  and 
the  cogency  of  his  answer.  He,  too,  has  a  word  of  respect 
for  the  judge ;  for,  though  the  character  of  the  man  was  des- 
picable, the  dignity  of  the  office  was  honorable,  therefore 
he  congratulates  himself  that  he  is  arraigned  before  one 
whose  long  residence  in  the  country  had  given  him  some 
acquaintance  with  the  peculiarities  of  the  people  and  of 
their  religion.  Then,  beginning  at  his  arrival  in  Jerusalem 
to  keep  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  he  took  up  and  disposed  of 
the  accusations  of  Tertullus  in  regular  order.  He  had  been 
no  mover  of  sedition,  for,  only  twelve  days  before,  he  had 
gone  up  to  the  Holy  City  to  take  alms  to  the  poor  of  his 
nation,  and  neither  then  nor  on  any  former  occasion,  neither 
in  the  Temple,  nor  in  the  synagogues,  nor  in  the  street,  had 
he  entered  into  dispute  with  any  man,  or  in  any  way  at- 
tempted to  disturb  the  peace.  It  was,  therefore,  impossible 
for  his  adversaries  to  prove  any  of  the  assertions  which,  on 
that  head,  they  had  made.  Then,  as  to  his  being  one  of  the 
Nazarenes,  it  was  certainly  true  that,  after  the  way  which 
they  called  a  sect,  he  worshipped  the  God  of  his  fathers ; 
but  it  was  still  the  God  of  his  fathers  whom  he  worship- 
ped. He  believed,  as  thoroughly  as  his  accusers  professed 
to  do,  all  the  things  which  were  written  in  the  law  and  in 
the  prophets  ;  and  if  it  were  allowable  to  have  sects  of 


414  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Pharisees  and  Sadducees  among  the  Jews,  he  did  not  see 
anything  illegal  in  the  existence  of  that  of  the  Nazarenes, 
especially  as  the  great  hope  which  he  cherished  was  one 
which  he  held  in  common  with  the  Pharisees,  this,  namely, 
"  that  there  shall  be  a  resurrection  of  the  dead,  both  of  the 
just  and  the  unjust."  Nor  did  he  hold  that  hope  in  con- 
junction with  an  unrighteous  life ;  for  he  steadfastly  exer- 
cised himself  "  to  have  always  a  conscience  void  of  offence 
tovv^ard  God  and  toward  men."  Further,  as  touching  their 
allegation  about  the  profanation  of  the  Temple,  it  was  false 
from  beginning  to  end.  He  had,  indeed,  gone  into  the  Tem- 
ple with  offerings,  and  while  he  was  there  he  had  been  as- 
saulted by  certain  Jews  from  Asia ;  but  he  was  there  in  the 
discharge  of  a  sacred  duty,  and  he  had  made  no  tumult, 
neither  had  he  taken  Gentiles  with  him  into  the  forbidden 
court.  Let  them  prove  the  contrary  if  they  could.  Where 
were  those  Jews  from  Asia  who  had  first  created  prejudice 
against  him  ?  It  was  strange  that  they  had  not  been  called 
to  give  their  testimony.  Had  they  been  spirited  away  be- 
cause it  had  been  discovered  that  they  could  not  substan- 
tiate their  assertions  ?  But  even  failing  them,  let  those  pres- 
ent stand  forth  and  declare  wdiether  they  had  found  any  evil- 
doing  in  him  save  that  to  which  he  had  already  referred, 
namely,  that  he  had  said,  "  Touching  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead  am  I  called  in  question  this  day." 

Felix  saw  at  once  that  the  statement  of  Paul  was  more  in 
harmony  with  the  letter  of  the  chief  captain  than  was  that 
of  TertuUus ;  but  in  the  mention  of  those  alms  which  the 
apostle  spoke  of  he  scented  gold,  and,  with  an  eye  to  a  bribe, 
he  remanded  the  prisoner,  openly  professing  that  he  would 
inquire  thoroughly  into  the  case  when  Claudius  Lysias 
should  come  down,  but  inwardly  desiring  to  give  an  oppor- 
tunity for  the  offer  of  money.  With  the  same  object  in 
view,  he  did  not  send  Paul  to  the  common  prison,  but  com- 


Paul  before  Felix:    Felix  before  Paul.       415 

mitted  him  to  a  centurion,  that  he  might  be  kept  in  military 
custody — that  is  to  say,  chained  by  his  right  arm  to  a  sol- 
dier's left — but  having  permission  to  enjoy  the  fullest  fel- 
lowship with  his  friends. 

Thus  commenced  that  long  captivity  which  lasted  for  at 
least  two  years  after  Paul's  arrival  at  Rome,  and  yet  the 
heart  of  the  apostle  was  not  unduly  depressed.  He  had 
within  him  the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  his  loneli- 
ness was  brightened  for  him  by  the  society  of  Christian 
brethren.  Philip,  the  evangelist,  lived  at  Cssarea,  and  there 
also  were  many  other  disciples  who  would  consider  it  an 
honor  to  be  permitted  to  minister  to  him.  Besides,  as  Luke 
and  Aristarchus  are  found  setting  out  with  him  on  his  voy- 
age to  Rome  two  years  later,  it  is  likely  that  they  were  with 
him  all  the  while,  and  perhaps  it  was  during  this  time  that 
Luke  wrote  at  Paul's  suggestion,  and  after  diligent  inquiry 
of  his  own,  that  beautiful  gospel  wdiich  has  so  refreshed 
the  Church  of  Christ  in  every  age.  If  that  were  indeed 
the  case,  then  what  a  blessed  result  has  accrued  to  us 
from  this  seemingly  untoward,  and  really  unjust,  confine- 
ment ! 

But  the  Christians  in  Caesarea  were  not  the  only  ones  in- 
terested in  the  noble  prisoner.  Drusilla  had  heard  his  story, 
probably  from  Felix  himself,  and  we  may  perhaps  conclude 
that  it  was  at  her  request  that  the  governor  "  sent  for  Paul, 
and  heard  from  him  concerning  the  faith  of  Christ."  An 
inferior  man  might  have  been  tempted  to  avail  himself  of 
such  an  opportunity  for  pleading  his  own  cause ;  and  a 
timid  man  might  have  been  frightened  into  a  guilty  silence 
regarding  the  sins  of  which  his  hearers  had  been  guilty,  par- 
ticularly if  he  remembered  the  fate  of  Jonathan,  the  high- 
priest  ;  but  with  Paul  Christ  was  ever  uppermost,  and  the 
desire  to  save  souls  the  ruling  passion ;  and  therefore,  with- 
out any  cautious  balancing  of  probabilities  or  any  calcula- 

18* 


41 6  Paul  the  Missionary. 

tion  of  the  effect  which  his  words  might  have  upon  his  own 
prospects,  he  jDreached  fully,  faithfully,  and  we  must  add 
also,  appropriately.  We  do  not  know  the  precise  course 
which  he  followed ;  but  it  seems  natural  to  conclude  that 
he  began  with  a  statement  of  the  facts  regarding  Christ; 
that,  remembering  that  Drusilla  was  a  Jewess,  he  went  on 
to  show  how  in  these  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament 
were  fulfilled  ;  and  that,  by  way  of  application,  he  proceed- 
ed to  show  how  men  needed  to  be  saved  from  their  sins, 
and  how  Jesus  wrought  out  in  them  the  deliverance  they 
required.  Probably  it  was  in  this  last  connection  that  he 
reasoned  of  righteousness  so  necessary  in  all  men,  but  es- 
pecially in  a  judge ;  of  continence  or  chastity,  in  regard  to 
which  his  hearers  had  been  such  scandalous  offenders  ;  and 
of  that  judgment  to  come,  which  is  before  every  man,  and  at 
which  w^e  must  all  give  account  of  the  deeds  done  in  the 
body,  whether  they  have  been  good  or  whether  they  have 
been  evil.  But  whatever  was  the  method  which  he  adopt- 
ed, his  word  was  with  power,  for  "  Felix  trembled."  As  he 
was  confronted  alike  with  the  past  and  with  the  future,  and 
made  to  feel  almost  as  if  he  were  already  at  the  bar  of  God, 
he  shuddered  like  the  Chaldean  monarch  when  he  saw 
"the  dread  handwriting  on  the  wall."  But  his  emotion  did 
not  lead  him  to  repentance,  and  so  he  only  said,  "  Go  thy 
way  for  this  time ;  when  I  have  a  convenient  season,  I  will 
call  for  thee."  As  for  Drusilla,  it  does  not  appear  that  any 
very  great  impression  was  produced  on  her.  Haply — for 
your  guilty  ones  are  always  purists,  at  least  by  affectation — 
she  might  go  away  complaining  that  Paul  was  a  vulgar  and 
indelicate  fellow;  but  whatever  she  thought  then,  one  would 
like  to  know  whether  any  lingering  echo  of  the  apostle's 
words  was  sounding  in  her  secret  ear,  on  that  dreadful  day 
so  graphically  described  by  the  younger  Pliny  in  one  of  his 
letters  to  the  historian  Tacitus,  when  she  and  her  son  per- 


Paul  before  Felix:   Felix  before  Paul.        417 

ished  so  suddenly  in  the  eruption  of  Vesuvius,  which  buried 
Herculaneum  and  Pompeii  beneath  its  ashes. 

Often  after  this  FeHx  sent  for  Paul  with  the  secret  hope 
of  having  the  offer  of  a  bribe  made  to  him,  but  never  again 
was  he  so  moved  about  the  concerns  of  his  soul ;  and  so, 
when,  two  years  later,  he  was  recalled  to  Rome,  under  accu- 
sation from  the  Jews  at  Caesarea,  he  left  Paul  bound,  think- 
ing thereby  to  propitiate  his  enemies  and  prevent  them 
from  proceeding  to  extremities  against  him. 

The  central  point  of  the  history  over  which  to-night  we 
have  come  is  the  interview  between  Paul  and  Felix,  at 
which,  for  the  time,  the  parties  seemed  to  have  changed 
places,  and  the  prisoner  laid  down  the  law  before  the  judge, 
while  the  judge  trembled  before  the  prisoner.  There  is 
here  much  material  for  practical  reflection.  I  select  only  a 
few  particulars. 

Notice,  then,  in  the  first  place,  the  twofold  power  of  con- 
science as  here  indicated.  I  enter  not  now  into  any  meta- 
physical analysis  of  that  which  we  call  conscience.  Let  it 
suffice  to  say  that  it  is  that  within  us  which  gives  us  the 
distinction  between  right  and  wrong,  along  with  the  feeling 
of  obligation  to  do  the  one  and  to  refrain  from  doing  the 
other.  It  lays  down  the  law  to  the  soul.  It  deals  in  the 
words  "ought"  and  "ought  not;"  and  by  its  decisions  it 
lays  claim  to  that  which  Bishop  Butler  calls  "supremacy," 
while  it  answers  to  the  description  of  it  given  by  the  same 
author  as  "  that  superior  principle  in  every  man  which  dis- 
tinguishes between  the  internal  principles  of  his  heart  as 
well  as  his  external  actions ;  which  passes  judgment  upon 
himself  and  them ;  pronounces  determinately  some  actions 
to  be  in  themselves  just,  right,  good ;  others  to  be  in  them- 
selves evil,  wrong,  unjust ;  which,  without  being  consulted, 
without  being  advised  with,  magisterially  exerts  itself,  and 
approves  or  condemns  him  the  doer  of  them,  accordingly ; 


4i8  .Paul  the  Missionary. 

and  which,  if  not  forcibly  stopped,  naturally  and  always,  of 
course,  goes  on  to  anticipate  a  higher  and  more  effectual 
sentence,  which  shall  hereafter  second  and  afhrm  its  own."* 
Its  phenomena  are  familiar  to  every  man  who  communes 
much  with  his  own  heart,  and  they  are  to  me  inexplicable 
unless  they  are  understood  as  pointing  directly  and  imme- 
diately to  Him  who  is  the  source  of  all  law.  They  are  not 
wrong,  therefore,  in  my  judgment,  who  speak  of  it  as  God's 
vicegerent  in  the  soul,  or  as  the  God  within  the  breast. 
This  is  the  law  written  on  the  heart,  of  which  Paul  makes 
mention  in  one  of  his  letters,  and  to  which  he  refers  when  he 
says,  "When  the  Gentiles,  which  have  not  the  law,  do  by  nat- 
ure the  things  contained  in  the  law,  these,  having  not  the  law, 
are  a  law  unto  themselves."  No  doubt  the  depravity  of  the 
heart  has  in  many  well-nigh  effaced  the  writing,  yet  enough 
remains  to  witness  for  the  right  and  to  condemn  the  wrong. 
Now  see  what  a  force  this  inner  principle  possesses,  as  il- 
lustrated by  the  contrast  which  the  history  before  us  pre- 
sents. On  the  one  hand,  when  the  apostle  is  accused,  and 
is  called  to  answer  for  himself,  he  is  calm  and  courageous ; 
on  the  other,  when  Felix  hears  Paul's  irrefutable  reasoning 
about  judgment  to  come,  he  is  alarmed,  and  trembles.  Why 
this  difference  between  the  two  ?  The  answer  is  easy.  Paul 
had  exercised  himself  "  to  have  always  a  conscience  void  of 
offence  toward  God  and  toward  men."  He  knew  that  the 
things  laid  to  his  charge  by  his  accusers  were  untrue.  He 
had  done,  in  regard  to  them,  no  wrong ;  and  as  before  God 
he  had  the  assurance  that  his  sins  w^ere  forgiven  for  the 
sake  of  Christ,  and  had  the  witness  in  himself  that  he  was 
following  the  guidance  of  him  whose  he  was  and  whom  he 
served,  he  had  a  good  conscience,  and  that  made  him  a  hero. 

*  "  Sermons  on  Human  Nature,"  by  Rt.  Rev.  Joseph  Butler,  D.D. 
(Sermon  II.). 


Paul  before  Felix  :   Felix  before  Paul.       419 

But  Felix  was  haunted  by  the  remembrance  of  his  unjust 
decisions,  his  robberies,  his  cruelties,  and  his  impurities. 
He  could  not  vindicate  himself  to  himself.  How  then  could 
he  stand  before  the  bar  of  God  ?  He  had  an  evil  con- 
science, and  that  made  him  a  coward.  My  hearer,  what 
does  your  conscience  say  about  you  ?  Does  it  give  you 
boldness  at  the  thought  of  the  day  of  judgment  ?  or  does  it 
fill  you  with  dismay  at  the  idea  of  your  being  "  naked  and 
open  before  the  eyes  of  Him  with  whom  you  have  to  do  ?" 
Do  not  forget  that  there  is  a  judgment  to  come,  the  awards 
of  which  shall  be  unerring  and  eternal.  As  you  would  pre- 
pare for  that  ordeal,  I  entreat  you  now  to  anticipate  it ;  and 
if  your  own  heart  condemns  you,  and  is  even  now  forecast- 
ing its  doom,  I  implore  you,  while  yet  your  day  of  grace 
lasts,  to  betake  yourself  to  Jesus,  that  he  may  cleanse  your 
conscience  from  guilt,  and  miay  purge  it  from  dead  works 
to  serve  the  living  God. 

Notice,  in  the  second  place,  the  danger  of  stifling  convic- 
tions. Felix  did  not  allow  his  feeling  of  the  guilt  of  sin  to 
ripen  into  conversion,  but  overlaid  it  with  the  pleasures  and 
the  ambitions  of  his  daily  life.  He  sent  no  more  for  Paul 
to  renew  his  reasonings  before  him ;  and  as  we  learn  from 
history,  he  was  recalled  to  Rome,  where  he  would  have  suf- 
fered the  penalty  due  to  his  atrocities,  had  not  his  brother 
prevailed  upon  the  emperor  to  spare  his  life.  Thus  he 
never  again  v/as  stirred  to  the  depths  of  his  soul  by  the 
truth,  and  never,  so  far  as  we  know,  even  desired  to  amend 
his  life,  but  died  as  he  had  lived,  the  votary  of  appetite  and 
the  slave  of  sin.  Not  ever^'  one  who  trembles  under  the 
faithful  presentation  of  God's  truth  is  converted.  Perhaps 
there  are  some  here  to-night  who  can  recall  the  time  when, 
by  the  solemn  and  earnest  proclamation  of  the  law,  they 
w^ere  cut  to  the  heart,  and  as  they  passed  out  of  the  house 
of  prayer  they  said  within  themselves,  "  Yes,  it  is  all  true ! 


420  Paul  the  Missionary. 

I  must  live  another  life  ;"  but  when  the  morrow  came,  they 
put  the  impression  away  from  them,  and  they  went  their 
way  to  their  business  and  their  merchandise,  determined  to 
banish  all  spiritual  subjects  from  their  minds.  It  may  be 
that  this  description  of  their  case  has  moved  them  again, 
and  that  even  as  I  sjDeak  they  are  sorely  disturbed.  Friends, 
will  you  be  on  your  guard  against  repeating  your  former 
folly  ?  Do  not  stifle  your  convictions  !  Do  not  choke  down 
the  cry  which  is  even  now  seeking  to  find  expression  from 
your  lips  !  Let  it  come  out  clear,  sharp,  and  decisive,  "  Lord 
save  me,  I  perish!"  and  let  the  feeling  of  this  moment  stiffen 
into  a  principle  for  life.  Break  away  from  every  sin,  and 
henceforth  live  not  unto  yourselves,  but  unto  Him  who  died 
for  you  and  rose  again.  They  who  attempt  to  overlay  the 
reproaches  of  their  consciences  are  only  increasing  their 
ultimate  misery.  They  remind  me  of  the  janitor  of  the 
academy  at  which  I  was  educated,  who,  when  he  was  told 
one  day  that  the  chimney  of  the  lire  which  warmed  the 
building  had  ignited,  and  that  the  building  itself  would  soon 
be  in  flames,  went  and  deliberately  put  more  coal  into  the 
furnace.  It  smothered  the  flame  for  a  few  moments,  but 
by-and-by  it  intensified  the  fire.  So,  the  more  men  cover  up 
their  convictions  the  worse  shall  be  the  issue.  While  I  was 
a  minister  in  Liverpool,  there  came  into  the  river  Mersey 
a  cotton-laden  ship  which  for  the  last  ten  days  of  her  voy- 
age had  been  on  fire.  By  dint  of  skill  and  energy  on  the 
part  of  the  captain  and  crew  in  battening  down  the  hatches 
and  excluding  all  external  air,  the  danger  had  been  kept 
down.  At  length,  however,  when  she  was  brought  to  anch- 
or, the  hold  was  opened  up,  and  then  the  flames  leaped 
out  apparently  all  the  more  furiously  from  their  long  con- 
finement, and  she  burnt  to  the  water's  edge.  So,  my  hearer, 
you  may  go  through  life  covering  up  the  hatchways  of  your 
conscience  and  keeping  down  its  flames,  and  you  may  sue- 


Paul  before  Felix:   Felix  before  Paul.        421 

ceed  for  the  time  j  but  when  you  come  to  life's  end,  God 
himself  will  lay  your  bosom  bare,  and  then  its  hidden  fires 
of-  remorse  will  burst  forth  "  fierce  as  ten  furies,  terrible 
as  hell,"  yea,  hell  itself;  and  who  shall  be  able  to  deliver 
you? 

Notice,  again,  the  hypocrisy  of  procrastination.  Felix  put 
Paul  off  nominally  only  for  that  time ;  but  he  never  meant 
to  call  for  him  on  the  same  business  again.  That  "  conven- 
ient season  "  never  came.  Still,  somehow  he  flattered  him- 
self into  the  belief  that  he  had  not  directly  refused  to  do  as 
God  required,  but  had  only  delayed.  He  forgot  that  delay 
is  refusal  for  the  time.  If,  therefore,  your  refusal  is  rooted, 
as  that  of  Felix  was  here,  in  a  determination  to  remain  in 
the  practice  of  your  sins,  do  not  bid  Christ  or  his  messenger 
depart  "for  this  time,"  and  allege  that  it  is  only  a  conven- 
ient season  you  are  waiting  for.  That  is  a  sham,  a  mockery 
— in  plain  speech,  a  lie.  Face  the  question  thoroughly. 
Has  Christ  any  right  to  you  ?  Ves  ?  or.  No  ?  If  he  has, 
then  yield  yourself  to  him  at  once  ;  if  he  has  not,  then  think 
no  more  about  him.  If  Baal  be  God,  follow  him ;  but  if 
Jehovah,  then  follow  /ii'm.  But  do  not  prevaricate.  Do  not 
say  one  thing  when  you  mean  another,  or  make  a  promise 
which  you  have  no  intention  whatever  of  keeping? 

But  suppose  I  admit  that  your  procrastination  is  not  a 
make-believe,  and  is  pure  dilatoriness,  then  reflect  who  it  is 
that  you  are  putting  off  after  this  fashion.  It  is  not  the 
preacher — it  is  not  even  an  apostle — it  is  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  himself;  and  who  are  you  that  you  should  presume 
to  keep  him  waiting  your  convenience  ?  Reflect  again  on 
the  uncertainties  in  the  case  :  you  are  calculating  on  the 
future.  But  whose  is  the  future  ?  Whose  is  to  -  morrow  ? 
What  is  to-morrow  ?  It  is,  so  says  the  proverb,  "  the  day 
when  the  idle  man  works,  and  the  fool  reforms."  It  is,  says 
another,  "a  period  nowhere  to  be  found  in  all  the  hoary 


422  Paul  the  Missionary. 

registers  of  time,  save  perchance  in  the  fool's  calendar."  It 
promises  blessings  which,  if  only  you  had  eyes  to  see  them, 
are  already  furnished  by  to-day,  and  which,  if  you  neglect 
them  now,  you  may  never  have  another  opportunity  of  ac- 
quiring. I  have  no  Gospel  for  to-morrow.  My  commission 
is  only  for  to-day.  It  is  utterly  uncertain  whether  we  shall 
see  to-morrow ;  and  therefore  it  is  the  height  of  folly  for  any 
one  to  defer  till  then  the  settlement  of  the  momentous  mat- 
ter of  his  soul's  salvation.  Besides,  even  if  it  were  certain 
that  we  should  see  and  enjoy  the  morrow,  it  will  not  be  any 
easier  then  to  break  away  from  sin  than  it  is  to-day.  In- 
deed, it  will  not  be  so  easy ;  for  the  longer  you  continue  in 
a  course  of  sin,  of  whatever  sort  it  may  be,  whether  intem- 
perance, or  sensuality,  or  deceit,  or  covetousness,  it  will  be 
the  harder  for  you  to  give  it  up.  The  cords  of  habit,  which 
at  first  are  light  as  the  spider's  airy  gossamer,  grow  thicker 
and  thicker  the  longer  it  is  indulged  in ;  and  each  new  act 
of  conformity  puts  another  coil  of  the  cord,  so  thickened, 
round  you ;  therefore,  that  which  might  have  been  snapped 
asunder  at  first  as  easily  as  Samson  broke  the  withes,  can, 
after  years,  be  severed  only,  if  severed  at  all,  by  agony  and 
effort.  The  ivy,  in  its  early  creepings  up  the  house  side,  may 
be  cut  down  with  ease ;  but  if  you  let  it  alone  long  enough, 
it  will  so  grow  into  the  walls  that  you  cannot  remove  it 
without  taking  down  the  building.  Like  it,  a  habit,  if  long- 
continued,  will  so  grow  into  the  soul  that,  when  you  try  to 
tear  it  out,  it  will  be  like  breaking  your  very  heart-strings  ; 
and  the  longer  it  is  practised,  it  will  be  the  worse.  If,  there- 
fore, you  would  not  become  helpless  in  the  bondage  of  sin 
— if  you  would  not  add  needlessly  to  the  striving  which,  in 
any  case,  is  required  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate,  then  begin 
at  once.  Rise  in  the  might  of  God's  Holy  Ghost,  and  put 
forth  one  sincere,  believing,  sustained  and  prayerful  effort, 
and  then  the  law  of  the  spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  will  set 


Paul  before  Felix  :    Felix  before  Paul.        423 

you  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death  which  heretofore  has 
ruled  within  you.  "  To-day,  if  you  will  hear  his  voice,  hard- 
en not  your  hearts." 

Notice,  in  the  last  place,  the  fettering  influence  of  sin  as 
here  illustrated.  This  was  probably  the  crisis  of  the  life  of 
Felix.  I  do  not  believe  that  in  all  his  earthly  existence 
there  was  another  occasion  so  important  to  him,  or  so 
fraught  with  possibilities  of  everlasting  good  to  him,  as  this 
interview  with  Paul.  I  think  I  can  see,  too,  that  such  better 
nature  as  he  had  was  on  the  apostle's  side.  His  mind  was 
convinced  by  the  reasoning  of  Paul.  He  knew  he  ought  to 
do  as  the  faithful  and  affectionate  preacher  had  said,  but  he 
did  not;  and  the  reason  why  he  did  not  gives  the  true  ex- 
planation of  his  procrastination,  and  is  full  of  warning  to  us 
all.  He  was  held  fast  by  the  cords  of  his  own  sins.  The 
things  which  he  had  done  in  his  past  life,  and  the  connec- 
tion into  which  he  had  entered  with  her  who  was  sitting  by 
his  side,  handicapped  him  so  completely  that,  though  he 
might  otherwise  have  v;on  the  race,  he  could  not  even  leave 
the  starting-post.  Will  you  think  of  that,  you  who  are  now 
indulging  in  sin,  under  the  pleasing  delusion  that  you  may 
break  away  from  it  at  any  time  and  return  to  "God  ?  What 
know  you  but  that  when  the  decision  has  to  be  made,  for 
good  and  all,  you  may  be  just  as  Felix  was  here — clogged 
by  an  encumbering  past  which  will  not  let  you  move  ?  You 
are  making  or  unmaking  yourself  in  daily  conduct  for  the 
critical  eras  of  your  life — those  narrow  places  "  where  there 
is  no  turning  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left."  Yes !  and 
those  times  may  come — commonly  do  come — when  you  are 
not  thinking  of  them  ;  but  when  they  come,  if  you  have  been 
living  all  along  in  sin,  you  may  find  yourself  as  powerless 
to  meet  the  responsibilities  of  the  moment,  as  the  Laocoon 
were  to  extricate  themselves  from  the  folds  of  the  serpent. 
Now,  therefore,  while  you  have  the  desire — now  while  God's 


424  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Spirit  is  striving  with  you — break  away  from  the  snares  in 
which  Satan  would  entangle  you,  lest  when  the  call  rouses 
you  to  exertion,  you  may  discover,  like  Samson,  that  the 
Lord  has  departed  from  you ;  or,  like  Felix,  that  you  can- 
not— and  cannot  because  you  do  not  choose  to — break  away 
from  Drusilla  even  for  the  sake  of  Christ. 


c 


XXIII. 

DEFENCE  BEFORE  AGRIPPA. 

Acts  xxv.,  xxvi. 

ONCERNING  Porcius  Festus,  by  whom  Felix  was  suc- 
_ '  ceeded,  we  know  little  more  than  can  be  gathered  or 
inferred  from  the  sacred  narrative.     He  seems  to  have  pos- 
sessed those  characteristics  which  were  peculiar  to  the  better 
class  of  the  educated  Romans  of  his  day.     A  cynic  in  phi- 
losophy, and  a  sceptic  in  religion,  he  was  yet,  probably,  free 
from  those  debasing  vices  which  disgraced  his  predecessor. 
As  a  judge,  it  is  evident  that  he  desired  to  do  right,  though 
in  the  beginning  of  his  administration  the  wish  to  conciliate 
the  people  over  whom  he  was  to  rule  was  sometimes,  as  in 
the  case  of  Paul,  permitted  by  him  to  override  his  better 
judgment;   and  he  was  ready  to  make  concessions  which 
were  not  in  the  interests  of  justice.     But,  after  all  qualifica- 
tions have  been  made,  he  was  a  vast  improvement  on  the 
mean,  mercenary,  cruel,  and  unscrupulous  Felix.     At  a  later 
date,  he  was  not  by  any  means  so  well-disposed  toward 
the  Jews  as  he  appears  in  the  narrative  of  Luke  here ;  for 
when  Agrippa  had  offended  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  by 
building  a  splendid  dining-room,  the  window  of  which  over- 
looked the  Temple,  and  they  had  erected  a  wall  to  shut  out 
his  view,  Festus  took  part  with  Agrippa,  and  ordered  the 
wall  to  be  pulled  down.     Against  that  command,  the  priests 
appealed  to  Nero,  and  under  the  influence  of  the  vile  Pop- 
psea,  who  sought  to  atone  for  her  vices  by  a  profession  of 


426  Paul  the  Missionary. 

interest  in  religion,  they  were  sustained  *  Festus  did  not 
long  survive  this  imperial  slight;  for  in  the  second  year  of 
his  administration  he  died  in  his  province. 

When  first  he  arrived  at  Caesarea,  he  would  very  likely 
make  a  public  entry  into  the  city ;  and  we  may  form  some 
notion  of  the  earnest  purpose  v/hich  he  had  to  govern  with 
discretion,  from  the  fact  that,  after  so  brief  an  interval  as 
three  days,  he  went  up  to  Jerusalem,  in  order  that  he  might 
become  acquainted  with  the  ecclesiastical  customs  and  dig- 
nitaries of  the  people.  He  remained  there  for  a  little  over 
ten  days,  during  which,  among  other  requests  presented  to 
him,  he  received  a  petition  from  the  high  -  priest  and  the 
chief  men  of  the  council  to  the  effect  that  he  would  send 
Paul  for  trial  to  Jerusalem.  Behold  the  undying  enmity  of 
these  men  !  A  new  high-priest  now  wore  the  mitre,  for  An- 
anias, as  we  learn  from  Josephus,  had  by  this  time  been  re- 
placed by  Ishmael ;  a  new  governor  had  come  to  Caesarea ; 
but  there  was  no  change  in  the  disposition  of  his  adversa- 
ries toward  Paul,  save  that  their  antagonism  seems  to  have 
increased  in  intensity  as  the  months  rolled  past.  For  their 
desire  was  not  for  justice ;  and  if  the  governor  had  yielded 
to  their  entreaty,  there  would  have  been  no  trial  of  the  apos- 
tle before  any  earthly  tribunal  whatever,  since  the  conspira- 
tors, who  two  years  before  had  sworn  to  assassinate  him, 
were  ready  still  to  put  him  to  the  dagger.  It  is  not  certain 
that  Festus  saw  through  their  plot,  but  he  gave  a  reply,  part 
of  which  is  repeated  by  him  in  his  conversation  with  Agrip- 
pa,t  and  part  of  which  is  recorded  by  Luke  in  his  own  nar- 
rative.t  Putting  both  together,  we  have  the  substance  of 
his  answer  in  the  following  statement :  "  It  is  not  the  man- 
ner of  the  Romans  to  deliver  any  man  to  die,  before  that 


*  Josephus,  Ant.,  xx.,  viii.,  ii.  t  Acts  xxv.,  15, 16. 

t  Acts  xxv.,  5. 


Defence  before  Agrippa.  427 

he  which  is  accused  have  the  accusers  face  to  face,  and 
have  license  to  answer  for  himself  concerning  the  crime  laid 
against  him ;  therefore  Paul  shall  be  kept  at  Cassarea,  and 
I  shall  myself  depart  shortly  thither,  when  the  principal  men 
among  you  may  accompany  me  and  accuse  the  prisoner,  if 
there  be  any  wickedness  in  him."  It  is  possible  that  in  so 
deciding,  Festus  merely  wished  to  consult  his  own  conven- 
ience j  but  it  is  not  improbable  that  he  had  found  out  that 
Paul  was  a  Roman  citizen,  and  considering  that  he  had 
been  sent  from  Jerusalem  to  Caesarea  at  first,  he  might  be 
led  to  infer  that  some  underhand  design  was  connected  with 
the  request  of  the  high -priest.  But  whatever  his  motive 
was,  he  resisted  the  proposal  of  the  Jewish  magnates  with 
the  quiet  determination  of  a  man  who  was  not  accustomed 
to  have  his  will  opposed. 

But  he  did  not  allow  any  time  to  be  lost,  and,  so  far  as 
appears,  he  had  no  such  mercenary  disposition  as  that  which 
moved  Felix  to  delay,  but  vv^as  anxious  to  bring  the  case  to 
a  speedy  and  righteous  issue.  On  the  very  next  day  after 
his  return  to  Caesarea,  therefore,  he  held  a  court  for  the  trial 
of  Paul.  As  on  the  former  occasion  before  Felix,  the  ac- 
cusers of  the  apostle  charged  him  with  three  several  of- 
fences, namely,  heresy,  in  following  the  sect  of  the  Naza- 
renes  ;  sacrilege,  in  profaning  the  Jewish  Temple  ;  and  trea- 
son, in  speaking  against  Cassar.  But  he  met  all  their  asser- 
tions with  a  firm  denial,  saying,  "  Neither  against  the  law  of 
the  Jews,  neither  against  the  temple,  nor  yet  against  Csesar, 
have  I  offended  anything  at  ail."  The  eifect  produced  on 
the  mind  of  Festus  was  one  of  perplexity.  He  had  expect- 
ed to  hear  some  civil  crimes  laid  to  the  charge  of  the  pris- 
oner ;  but  instead,  to  borrow  his  own  words,  "  they  raised 
certain  questions  against  him  of  their  own  superstition,  and 
of  one  Jesus,  which  was  dead,  whom  Paul  affirmed  to  be 
alive."     This  unlooked-for  turn  of  the  case  disposed  Fes- 


428  Paul  the  Missionary. 

tus  to  seek  for  light  from  the  Jews  themselves ;  and  so,  not 
more,  perhaps,  to  show  favor  to  them  than  to  get  some  fur- 
ther information  for  himself,  he  proposed  that  Paul  should 
go  to  Jerusalem  and  there  be  judged  by  the  Sanhedrim,  but 
with  the  safeguard  of  his  presence.  This  was  yielding  to  the 
Jews  all  they  wished,  and  at  the  same  time  exposing  Paul  to 
the  attack  of  the  assassin  j  therefore,  seeing  no  hope  of  any 
other  outlet  from  his  perplexity,  and  perhaps,  also,  for  the 
first  time,  perceiving  the  door  opening  for  his  long-wished- 
for  visit  to  Rome,  he  said,  "  I  stand  at  Caesar's  judgment 
seat,  where  I  ought  to  be  judged :  to  the  Jews  have  I  done 
no  wrong,  as  thou  very  well  knowest.  For  if  I  be  an  offend- 
er, pr  have  committed  anything  worthy  of  death,  I  refuse  not 
to  die :  but  if  there  be  none  of  these  things  whereof  these 
accuse  me,  no  man  may  deliver  me  unto  them.     I  appeal 

UNTO  CiESAR." 

Under  the  Roman  Empire  all  the  checks  and  balances 
which  in  the  republic  existed  against  individual  authority 
were  concentrated  in  the  Emperor ;  hence,  while  in  former 
days  the  people  had  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  tribunes  for 
protection  against  patrician  injustice,  they  had  now  the  right 
of  appeal  to  the  emperor.  Whatever  influence  was  exerted 
under  the  republic  by  the  pontifex  maximus,  or  the  censor, 
was  now  possessed  by  the  emperor ;  and  so,  by  a  most  in- 
genious device,  all  the  safeguards  which  had  been  erected 
against  tyranny  in  the  republic  v/ere  made  the  buttresses  of 
autocracy  under  the  empire.  But  though,  in  the  majority  of 
instances,  the  effect  of  all  this  was  bad,  and  as  a  whole  it 
tended  to  that  centralization  which  is  the  perfection  of  im- 
perialism, and  the  best  means  for  the  exercise  of  tyranny, 
yet  in  the  case  of  Paul  the  result  was  beneficial.  It  re- 
moved his  trial  from  the  neighborhood  of  partisanship  and 
intolerance,  and  insured  that  he  would  be  carried  to  Rome 
under  the  protection  of  the  imperial  power.     Yet,  as  no  de- 


Defence  before  Agrippa. 


429 


cision  had  been  pronounced  on  his  case,  there  could  not  be, 
and  there  was  not,  an  appeal  in  the  modern  sense  of  the 
term.  The  language  employed  by  Festus,  "  Wilt  thou  go 
up  to  Jerusalem  and  there  be  judged  ?"  implied  that  an  ac- 
cused citizen  had  the  right  of  being  tried  either  by  the  pro- 
vincial magistrate  or  by  the  emperor ;  and  since  Festus 
seemed  to  be  willing  to  share  his  jurisdiction  with  the  Jew- 
ish council,  Paul  wisely  preferred  to  have  the  whole  ques- 
tion referred  to  Rome.  In  the  case  of  such  appeals  the 
governor  had  a  discretionary  power,  more  or  less  elastic; 
and  in  all  accusations  of  piracy  or  robbery,  where  the  pris- 
oners had  been  taken  in  the  act,  he  might  proceed  to  pass 
and  execute  sentence  despite  the  appeal.  So  we  read  that 
Festus  conferred  with  his  council  before  he  announced  his 
decision,  which  he  did  at  length,  in  these  words  :  "  Hast  thou 
appealed  unto  Caesar  ?  unto  Caesar  shalt  thou  go."  One 
hears  a  tone  of  wounded  dignity  or  offended  pride  in  this 
utterance,  as  if  Paul  had  done  him  wrong  in  supposing  that 
he  had  any  improper  motive  in  asking  whether  he  would  go 
to  Jerusalem ;  but  if  he  had  known  all  the  circumstances  as 
Paul  knew  them,  then  he  would  have  earnestly  withstood 
the  demands  of  the  Jews,  and  set  Paul  free,  or  he  would 
have  been  heartily  glad  to  get  rid  of  a  case  which  was 
fraught  with  mischief,  however  it  might  have  been  decided 
by  him.  But,  whatever  his  feelings  might  be,  he  could  not 
refuse  to  give  effect  to  the  appeal  of  the  apostle  ;  and,  there- 
fore, he  had  nothing  further  to  do  in  the  matter  than  to 
make  out  the  necessary  papers,  and  send  them  and  Paul  as 
speedily  as  possible  to  Rome. 

But  he  had  great  difficulty  in  the  preparation  of  these 
documents ;  for  the  whole  case  related  to  questions  con- 
cerning which  he  had  no  knowledge,  and  for  which  he  had 
a  supreme  contempt.  He  could  not  specify  the  crimes  laid 
to  the  charge  of  Paul;  neither  could  he  send  the  depositions 


430  Paul  the  Missionary. 

of  any  witnesses ;  and  altogether  he  was  greatly  perplexed. 
While  he  was  in  this  state  of  mind,  Agrippa,  the  young  King 
of  Chalcis,  accompanied  by  his  sister  Bernice,  came  to  pay 
him  a  complimentary  visit,  on  the  occasion  of  his  arrival  in 
his  province,  and  in  the  com'se  of  his  conferences  with  his 
royal  guest,  knowing  that  he  was  acquainted  with  the  laws 
and  customs  of  the  Jews,  he  took  occasion  to  submit  the 
whole  case  to  him  for  advice.  On  learning  the  particulars, 
Agrippa  expressed  a  desire  to  hear  Paul  himself;  and  so, 
on  the  very  next  day,  at  the  summons  of  Festus,  a  brilliant 
company  convened  in  the  court-room  to  listen  to  the  vener- 
able apostle. 

But  before  we  give  a  summary  of  his  defence  on  this 
memorable  occasion,  it  may  be  well  to  indicate  the  charac- 
ters of  those  two  royal  personages  wlio  were  the  principal 
auditors,  and  for  whose  gratification  especially  the  court  was 
held.  Agrippa,  as  we  have  said  in  our  last  lecture,  was  the 
son  of  that  Herod  who  took  such  a  prominent  part  in  the 
persecution  of  the  early  Church,  and  who,  in  the  midst  of 
his  pomp  and  pride,  was  smitten  by  the  disease  of  which 
he  died.  When  that  event  occurred,  Agrippa  was  at  Rome 
basking  in  the  sunshine  of  imperial  favor ;  but  though 
Claudius  had  promised  him  his  father's  kingdom,  he  ex- 
cused himself  from  keeping  his  word  on  the  score  of  Agrip- 
pa's  youth,  and  sent  a  procurator  to  take  charge  of  Judasa, 
which  thus  relapsed  into  a  province.  Herod  remained  four 
years  more  at  the  imperial  court,  living  the  life  of  a  volup- 
tuary, and  then,  on  the  death  of  his  uncle,  he  received  the 
little  province  of  Chalcis,  with  the  right  of  superintending 
the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  and  appointing  the  high -priest. 
At  a  still  later  date,  he  obtained  the  tetrarchies  of  Galilee 
and  Abylene,  with  the  title  of  king.  At  first  he  was  some- 
what popular  among  the  Jews,  because  of  his  occasional  in- 
tercession on  their  behalf  at  Rome ;  but  latterly  he  acted  in 


Defence  before  Agrippa.  431 

such  a  way  as  grievously  offended  them.  His  character  has 
nothing  in  it  that  evokes  our  admiration ;  and  even  heathen 
satirists  made  frequent  and  scathing  references  to  the  scan- 
dals which  were  connected  with  his  name.  As  for  his  sister 
Bernice,  she  was  one  of  the  m.ost  dissolute  of  women ;  and 
her  history,  to  borrow  the  words  of  Plumptre,  "  reads  like  a 
horrible  romance,  or  a  page  from  the  chronicles  of  the  Bor- 
gias.'"*  She  was  the  eldest  daughter  of  Agrippa  I.,  and  was 
married,  while  little  more  than  a  girl,  to  her  uncle  Herod,  of 
Chalcis.  After  his  death,  she  cam.e  and  lived,  under  circum- 
stances of  the  foulest  suspicion,  with  her  brother.  She  was 
subsequently  married  to  Polemon,  King  of  Cilicia ;  but  she 
left  him  and  returned  to  her  brother.  Then,  long  after  the 
events  narrated  in  this  chapter,  we  find  her  at  Rome,  sus- 
taining an  infamous  relation  to  the  Emperor  Titus,  which 
the  public  opinion  even  of  that  age  would  not  tolerate,  and 
so  he  was  reluctantly  compelled  to  dismiss  her.  Such  were 
the  principal  personages  before  whom  Paul  was  now  called 
to  plead.  They  were  among  the  last  of  the  Herodian  race, 
and  they  had  all  the  characteristics  of  the  family  to  which 
they  belonged ;  for  though  they  possessed  more  than  the 
average  of  mental  ability,  they  were  utterly  godless,  unprin- 
cipled, licentious  and  profane. 

But,  besides  these  royal  personages,  there  was  a  large 
and  brilliant  assemblage.  By  their  side  was  the  procurator, 
probably  in  some  official  uniform  ;  the  principal  inhabitants 
of  the  city  were  present  in  great  numbers ;  magistrates,  in 
their  "  furred  gowns  and  flowing  robes,"t  and  military  offi- 
cers, in  all  the  glitter  of  their  martial  accoutrements,  were 
there.  Great  was  the  blaz^e  of  glory  and  the  pageantry  of 
parade.     And  yet  the  noblest  man  in  all  that  throng  was 

*  "  Commentary  for  English  Reackrs,"  edited  by  Bishop  Ellicott,  vol. 
ii.,  p.  164.  1  Lewin,  vol.  ii.,  p.  175. 

19 


432  Paul  the  Missionary. 

the  meanest-looking  in  the  crowd ;  for  yonder,  chained  to  a 
Roman  soldier,  the  apostle  is  led  in.  As  he  enters,  every 
eye  is  turned  upon  him,  and  remarks  are  freely  made  re- 
garding him,  so  that  a  loud  hum  of  general  conversation 
rises  from  the  multitude.  But  hush  !  the  procurator  speaks. 
He  states  the  case  with  simple  and  comprehensive  brevity ; 
intimating  that  the  Jews  had  cried  that  Paul  ought  not  to 
live  any  longer,  but  that  he  himself  had  not  found  in  him 
anything  worthy  of  death,  and  expressing  the  hope  that, 
from  the  hearing  of  that  day,  something  definite  might  come 
out  which  he  might  transmit  wdth  the  prisoner  to  the  em- 
peror, to  whom  he  had  appealed. 

As  Paul  heard  the  words,  "  I  found  that  he  had  commit- 
ted nothing  worthy  of  death,"  I  can  imagine  how  his  heart 
thrilled  with  satisfaction  at  the  discovery,  now  made  by  him 
for  the  first  time,  that  Festus  was  convinced  of  his  inno- 
cence ;  and  when  Agrippa  said  to  him,  "  Thou  art  permitted 
to  speak  for  thyself,"  he  was  already  in  that  rapturous  and 
excited  mood  out  of  which  all  true  eloquence  is  born.  Trust- 
ing in  the  help  which  never  failed  him,  he  rose  magnificent- 
ly to  the  occasion,  and  delivered  that  address  which,  for  dig- 
nity and  grace,  for  simplicity  and  sublimity,  for  calmness 
and  cogency,  for  manliness  and  courtesy,  is  almost  unrival- 
led in  the  annals  of  oratory.  He  alludes  with  undissembled 
politeness  to  Agrippa's  familiarity  with  Jewish  matters ;  re- 
fers anew  to  his  early  life  as  a  Pharisee,  and  declares  again, 
as  he  did  both  at  Jerusalem  and  before  Felix,  that  he  is  now 
put  upon  his  trial  for  his  faith  in  that  which  had  all  along 
been  the  hope  of  the  Jewish  nation.  Then,  passing  to  the 
great  central  fact  of  the  Gospel — the  resurrection  of  Christ — 
he  says,  with  admirable  rhetorical  abruptness,  "  Why  should 
it  be  thought  a  thing  incredible  with  you  that  God  should 
raise  the  dead  ?"  and  proceeds  to  give  testimony  to  the  real- 
ity of  Christ's  resurrection  by  repeating  the  story  of  his  own 


Defence  before  Agrippa.  433 

conversion,  in  a  manner  which,  though  varying  apparently 
in  some  particulars,  is  in  substantial  harmony  with  the  other 
records  that  have  been  preserved.     Then  he  sums  up  the 
•years  of  his  life  since  that  memorable  day  at  Damascus,  in 
these  words  :  "  Whereupon,  O  king  Agrippa,  I  was  not  dis- 
obedient unto  the  heavenly  vision :  but  showed  first  unto 
them   of   Damascus,  and  at  Jerusalem,  and  throughout  all 
the   coasts   of  Judaea,  and  then   to  the  Gentiles,  that  they 
should  repent  and  turn  to  God,  and  do  works  meet  for  re- 
pentance.     For  these  causes  the  Jews  caught  me  in  the 
temple,  and  went  about  to  kill  me.     Having  therefore  ob- 
tained help  of  God,  I  continue  unto  this  day,  witnessing  both 
to  small  and  great,  saying  none   other  things   than  those 
which  the  prophets  and  Moses  did  say  should  come :  that 
Christ  should  suffer,  and  that  he  should  be  the  first  that 
should  rise  from  the  dead,  and  should  show  light  unto  the 
people,  and  to  the  Gentiles."     At  the  mention  of  the  resur- 
rection, the  scepticism  of  Festus  got  the  better  of  his  good- 
manners,  and  with  a  sneer  he  spoke  thus,  in  a  loud  voice  : 
"Paul,  thou  art  beside  thyself;  much  learning  doth  make 
thee  mad."     He  had  heard  the   apostle  refer  to  writings, 
and  probably  it  had  been  told  him  that  he  was  a  diligent 
student,  always  busy  at  his  parchments  ;  so,  as  the  very  idea 
of  a  resurrection  of  the  body  was  to  him  no  better  than  a 
hallucination,  he  concluded  that  the  close  application  of  the 
prisoner  had  affected  his  brain.     That  was  not  the  last  oc- 
casion, by  any  means,  on  which  the  earnestness  of  faith  in 
well-attested  truth  has  been  stigmatized  as  lunacy.     Even 
to  the  Saviour  himself  it  was  said,  "  Thou  hast  a  devil  and 
art  mad ;"  and  the  reproach  which  fell  on  him  need  not  be  a 
shock  to  us. 

The  apostle  answered  with  noble  calmness,  saying,  in  the 
very  language  of  philosophy  itself,  "  I  am  not  mad,  most 
noble  Festus ;  but  speak  forth  the  words  of  truth  and  sober- 


434  Paul  the  Missionary. 

ness."  Then,  referring  to  the  king's  own  knowledge  in  cor- 
roboration of  his  assertions,  he  exclaims,  "  The  king  know- 
eth  of  these  things,  before  whom  also  I  speak  freely :  for  I 
am  persuaded  that  none  of  these  things  are  hidden  from 
him  ;  for  this  thing  was  not  done  in  a  corner."  As  if  he  had 
said,  "  I  have  not  invented  these  things.  They  are  matters 
of  public  notoriety.  The  king  knows  that  they  are,  and  he 
knows,  too,  that  the  prophets  say  such  things  as  those  to 
which  I  have  referred.  King  Agrippa,  believest  thou  the 
prophets  .?  I  know  that  thou  believest."  As  he  paused  for 
a  reply,  the  monarch  answered,  "  In  a  little,  or  with  a  little, 
thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian."  There  is  a  differ- 
ence of  opinion  as  to  how  these  words  are  to  be  understood. 
Our  translators,  interpreting  the  phrase  to  mean  "within 
a  little,"  have  rendered  it  by  the  one  word  "almost,"  and 
have  taken  it  as  the  sincere  expression  of  Agrippa's  all 
but  adherence  to  Christianity.  Others,  however,  with  great- 
er grammatical  accuracy,  regard  the  whole  utterance  as  sar- 
castical.  The  king  uses  the  newly-coined  word  "  Christian  " 
with  all  its  associations  of  scorn  and  contempt,  and  virtual- 
ly, so  they  suppose,  says  something  like  this :  "  You  make 
but  a  little  matter  of  persuading  me  to  be  a  Christian,  but 
you  will  find  it  a  harder  thing  than  you  seem  to  imagine." 
But  whatever  was  the  spirit  of  Agrippa's  words,  there  is  no 
possibility  of  mistaking  the  drift  of  the  apostle,  when,  with  a 
boldness  and  courtesy  seldom  seen  combined  in  such  large 
proportion,  he  said,  "  I  would  to  God,  that  both  in  a  little 
and  in  much,  not  only  thou,  but  also  all  that  hear  me  this 
day,  were  such  as  I  am ;"  then,  glancing  at  the  chain  which 
bound  him,  and  not  wishing  to  include  that  in  his  desire  for 
them,  he  lovingly  added,  "  except  these  bonds."  By  much 
labor  or  by  little,  with  great  effort  or  with  small,  at  the  ex- 
penditure of  longer  time  or  shorter — that  was  of  no  matter 
to  him  j  but  it  was  his  earnest  desire  that,  anyhow,  they 


Defence  before  Agrippa.  435 

should  all  be  as  he  was,  lifted  up  above  the  fear  of  death, 
set  free  from  the  penalty  of  sin,  delivered  from  the  power  of 
iniquity,  and  possessed  of  the  fullest  assurance  of  immortal 
glory. 

It  was  a  noble  utterance ;  and  we  do  not  envy  the  man 
who  can  even  read  it  without  emotion.  But  what  must  it 
have  been  to  hear  it,  as  the  speaker's  face  became  radiant 
with  the  light  of  love,  and  the  chain  by  which  he  was  bound 
was  pressed  into  his  service,  and  made  by  him  to  clank  its 
appeal  to  his  hearer's  hearts.  We  do  not  wonder  at  the  ex- 
citement of  Festus,  or  at  the  haste  with  which  Agrippa  dis- 
missed the  assembly.  We  marvel  rather  that  the  impres- 
sions made  should  have  been  so  evanescent.  But  Agrip- 
pa and  his  friends  were  the  real  prisoners,  and  Paul  the 
true  freeman  ;  and  for  my  part,  I  had  rather  have  the  apos- 
tle's manacle  of  iron  than  that  royal  chain  of  pride  and 
power,  and  gold  and  sin,  with  which  these  others  were  held 
bound. 

After  a  brief  consultation  with  each  other,  it  was  agreed 
between  Festus  and  Agrippa  that  Paul  might  have  been  set 
at  liberty ;  but  since  he  had  appealed  unto  Csesar,  they  had 
no  alternative,  and  must  send  him  on  to  Rome  as  expedi- 
tiously as  possible.  How  it  fared  with  him  on  his  voyage 
thither  will  appear  in  our  next  lecture.  Meanwhile,  let  us 
gather  up  a  few  of  the  things  profitable  for  doctrine  and 
instruction  in  righteousness  which  may  be  found  in  these 
intensely  interesting  chapters. 

Observe,  then,  in  the  first  place,  what  is  the  central  truth 
of  the  Christian  system.  It  is  a  very  suggestive  fact  that 
Festus  had  got  hold  of  the  kernel  of  the  whole  subject, 
as  we  see  in  his  conversation  with  Agrippa,  when  he  said, 
"Against  whom,  when  the  accusers  stood  up,  they  brought 
none  accusations  of  such  things  as  I  supposed :  but  had 
certain  questions  against  him  of  their  own  superstition,  and 


436  Paul  the  Missionary. 

of  one  Jesus,  which  was  dead,  whom  Paul  affirmed  to  be 
alive."  Now,  this  can  be  accounted  for  only  on  the  sup- 
position that  Paul  had  given  special  prominence  to  the 
resurrection  of  Christ.  Nor  is  it  at  all  surprising  that  he 
acted  on  that  principle,  for  he  was  only  following  therein 
the  example  of  the  Lord  himself.  If  we  gather  together  all 
the  references  which  Jesus  made  to  his  death  and  resurrec- 
tion, we  shall  discover  that  his  coming  forth  from  the  tomb 
of  Joseph  is  not  one  proof  merely,  but  a  whole  cluster  of 
proofs  attesting  the  deity  of  his  person,  the  authority  of  his 
instructions,  and  the  atoning  efficacy  of  his  death.*  It  is 
put  forth  by  him  as  a  sort  of  crucial  test  by  which  his  claims 
were  to  be  tried.  He  perilled  his  Deity  ujoon  it ;  and  so, 
when  he  arose  on  the  world's  first  Easter  morn,  that  great 
miracle  threw  back  its  authenticating  light  on  everything  he 
had  said  and  done  during  his  earthly  ministry.  Now,  ap- 
pealing to  a  Jewish  audience  only  thirty-one  years  after  the 
event,  and  while  yet  it  was  feasible,  if  it  had  been  possible, 
to  disprove  it,  Paul  refers  to  it  as  a  thing  of  notoriety,  and 
uses  it  to  vindicate  himself  for  becoming  a  Christian,  and  to 
authenticate  the  doctrines  of  Christianity.  It  was,  and  is,  in 
fact,  the  very  key-stone  of  the  arch,  and  everything  else  de- 
pends on  it.  This  is  clear  from  the  manner  in  which,  in  his 
speeches,  discourses,  and  epistles,  Paul  constantly  refers  to 
it.  Thus,  does  he  proclaim  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God  ? 
then  he  affirms  that  he  was  "declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God 
v/ith  power,  according  to  the  Spirit  of  holiness,  by  the  res- 
urrection from  the  dead."t  Does  he  assert  that  God  hath 
appointed  a  day  in  the  which  he  will  judge  the  world  in 
righteousness  by  that  man  whom  he  hath  ordained  ?  then 
he  adds,|  "whereof  he  hath  sfiven  assurance  unto  all  men 


*  See  John  ii.,  i8  ;  Matt,  xii.,  40  ;  xvi.,  21 ;  xvii.,  22  ;  John  x.,  17,  18 : 
Matt.  XX.,  19.  t  Rom.  i.,  4.  J  Acts  xvii.,  31. 


Defence  before  Agrippa.  437 

in  that  he  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead."  Does  he  pro- 
claim that  there  shall  be  a  resurrection  of  the  dead  ?  then  he 
affirms  that  "  Christ  is  risen  from  the  dead,  and  become  the 
first-fruits  of  them  that  slept."*  Nay,  he  goes  so  far  as  to 
allege  to  the  Corinthians  that  if  Christ  is  not  risen  their 
faith  was  vain,  and  they  were  yet  in  their  sins.t  Now,  with 
such  views  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  we  can  understand 
how  Paul  came  to  make  so  much  of  it  that  even  Festus  could 
not  mistake  his  meaning,  but  understood  that  he  affirmed 
that  Jesus  is  alive ;  and  it  would  be  well  if  we  in  these  days 
realized  how  much  depends  on  preserving  our  faith  in  that 
great  fact.  Take  the  last  chapter  out  of  the  Gospel,  and  you 
leave  nothing  behind  that  is  then  worth  the  keeping.  Some, 
indeed,  would  persuade  us  that  we  may  give  up  our  faith  in 
miracles,  and  in  this  one  of  the  resurrection  among  the  rest, 
while  3'et  we  can  retain  our  faith  in  Christ ;  but  that  is  a 
delusion.  We  may  have  faith  then  in  some  one  whom  v,-e 
continue  to  call  Jesus  Christ ;  but  he  is  no  longer  the  Christ 
of  the  New  Testament,  of  whom  alone  it  is  said  that  "  he 
is  able  also  to  save  them  to  the  uttermost  that  come  unto 
God  by  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for 
them.''t  Others  tell  us  that  we  may  give  up  the  fact  of  the 
resurrection,  and  yet  retain  a  hold  on  the  spiritual  teachings 
of  Christ ;  but  that,  too,  is  impossible,  for  then  these  teach- 
ings will  lose  their  hold  on  us.  If  Christ  did  not  rise,  then 
there  is  no  Christ  alive  now ;  and  so  we  sever  the  bond  of 
connection  between  the  present  and  that  far-off  past  which 
these  gospels  describe.  It  makes  no  matter  how  far  the 
machine  is  from  the  engine  that  drives  it,  if  only  you  have  a 
connecting  rod  long  enough  to  communicate  the  motion  of 
the  one  to  the  other;  but  if  there  be  no  such  rod,  or  if  that 
rod  be   broken,  the  machine   remains   at  rest  despite  the 

*  I  Cor.  XV.,  20.  t  I  Cor.  XV.,  17.  J  Heb.vii,,25. 


43^  Paul  the  Missionary. 

power  of  the  engine.  Now,  similarly,  the  living  Christ  is 
to-day  the  rod  of  connection  between  me  and  the  work 
w^hich  was  done  on  Calvary ;  if  I  am  united  to  him,  the 
motive-power  from  that  Cross  will  come  into  me,  and  stir 
me  up  to  activity  in  obeying  his  commands,  and  carrying 
out  the  spirit  of  his  teachings.  But  if  he  never  rose  from 
the  dead,  then  his  death  stirs  me  no  more  than  that  of  Soc- 
rates, and  I  cannot  call  him  my  Saviour  any  more  than  I 
can  Plato.  So  let  us  see  what  we  give  up  when  we  give 
up  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  No  resurrection,  means  no 
living  Christ  j  no  living  Christ,  means  no  new  life  in  my  soul 
from  Christ ;  and  that  means  no  hope,  no  salvation,  and 
no  heaven.  But  "the  Lord  is  risen!"  The  very  existence 
of  the  Christian  Church,  with  its  weekly  Easter  service, 
through  the  years  of  eighteen  centuries  and  a  half,  is  itself 
a  proof  that  he  is  risen.  Now,  therefore,  let  us  rise  with 
him,  and  "  seek  those  things  which  are  above,  where  he  sit- 
teth  at  the  right  hand  of  God." 

Observe,  in  the  second  place,  what  is  the  normal  type  of 
the  Christian  man.  Agrippa,  in  his  reply  to  Paul's  appeal, 
had  used  the  newly -coined  word.  Christian,  probably  in 
scorn;  but  in  his  answer  Paul  paraphrases  it  into  "such  as 
I  am."  Let  us,  therefore,  seek  to  get  at  the  peculiarities  of 
Paul,  and  we  may  thus  bring  out  the  distinctive  features  of 
the  Christian  life.  These  peculiarities  were  many;  but  for 
the  present  it  may  suffice  if  we  make  them  all  rotate  round 
one — his  faith.  That  faith  had  a  peculiar  object.  It  was 
not  the  cold  abstraction  of  a  creed  that  he  believed,  but  the 
living,  loving  Christ  that  he  trusted.  He  held  doctrines,  in- 
deed— no  man  more  firmly ;  but  they  were  not  to  him  the 
dead  things  they  have  often  become  in  the  hands  of  theolo- 
gians, for  they  were  vitalized  by  their  connection  with  Christ. 
The  truth  to  him  was  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus ;"  and  the 
firmness  with  which  he  held  it  sprung  out  of  the  love  he 


Defence  before  Agrippa.  439 

bore  his  Lord.  The  Gospel  to  hhn  was  not  what  a  system 
of  philosophy  is  to  the  philosopher — a  wrestling-ground  for 
intellectual  exercise — but  it  was  a  thing  of  personal  convic- 
tion and  attachment  centring  in  Jesus.  The  Gospel,  in  his 
view,  was  no  mere  beautiful  but  lifeless  statue  :  it  was  the 
living  Christ.  The  Cross  to  him  was  no  mere  gilded  cruci- 
fix, which  one  may  wear  for  ornament  or  kiss  for  supersti- 
tion ;  but  it  was  the  altar  whereon  Christ  offered  himself  to 
God  for  him,  and  whereon,  also,  if  need  were,  he  was  willing 
to  offer  himself  to  God  for  Christ. 

But  Paul's  faith  had  also  a  peculiar  influence.  He  was 
not  one  of  those — of  whom  there  are  so  many  now — who 
seek  to  divorce  religion  from  life.  Nay,  rather,  his  re- 
ligion was  his  life,  and  his  life  was  his  religion.  The  two 
things  interpenetrated  each  other.  They  were  not  so  much 
two  things  as  one ;  and  you  could  no  more  separate  the  one 
from  the  other,  than  you  can  take  the  heart  out  of  a  living 
man  and  yet  have  life  in  either.  Religion  was  the  very  at- 
mosphere in  which  he  lived  and  moved  and  had  his  being ; 
and  his  faith  regulated  even  the  minutest  details  of  his  con- 
duct. His  faith  was  thorough,  and  sought  everywhere,  no 
matter  at  what  sacrifice,  to  work  itself  out  in  every  depart- 
ment of  his  nature.  This  thoroughness  it  was  which  had 
brought  on  him  these  bonds ;  it  carried  him  to  Rome ;  it 
made  him  resolute  and  unbending  in  the  assertion  of  God's 
truth ;  it  entailed  on  him  a  martyr's  death,  and  secured  for 
him  a  martyr's  crown. 

Now,  behold  in  these  two  peculiarities  of  Paul's  faith 
what  it  is  to  be  a  Christian.  It  is  to  have  faith  in  the  liv- 
ing, personal  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  have  that  faith 
itself  a  living  thing  pervading  the  conduct.  Wherever  these 
two  things  are,  there  you  have  "such  a  one  as  Paul ;"  where- 
ever  these  two  things  are  not,  no  matter  what  else  of  form 
and  show  you  may  have,  there  is  really  nothing  worthy  of 


440  Paul  the  Missionary. 

the  Christian  name.     Tried  by  these  tests,  my  hearer,  what 
are  you  ? 

Observe,  in  the  third  place,  the  gate  of  entrance  into 
the  Christian  life.  This  is  illustrated  both  in  Paul  and  in 
Agrippa.  When  the  Lord  appeared  unto  the  apostle  in  the 
way  to  Damascus,  he  showed  to  him  his  glory,  and  gave  to 
him  a  commission  ;  but  it  was  still  possible  for  Paul  to  resist 
and  disobey.  He  was  "apprehended  of  God."  But  that 
was  not  all  that  was  needed ;  he  had  also  "  to  apprehend 
that  for  which  he  was  apprehended ;"  and  how  he  did  that, 
he  describes  in  this  address,  when  he  says,  "  Whereupon  I 
was  not  disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision."  That  means 
that  he  promptly  and  unreservedly  obeyed.  But  now  look 
at  Agrippa.  In  Paul's  appeal  a  heavenly  vision  has  been 
given  to  him  also.  He  is  exhorted  to  repent  and  be  con- 
verted. He  is  urged  to  accept  Jesus  and  his  salvation  ;  but 
he  is  disobedient,  and  resists  the  appeal,  either  with  disdain 
or  with  a  tvv^inge  of  conscience  which  makes  him  feel  that 
he  is  doing  violence  to  his  better  nature.  Anyhow — and 
this  is  the  main  point — he  is  not  persuaded  to  become  a 
Christian.  This,  then,  is  the  strait  gate  through  which  each 
must  pass  into  the  narrow  way:  the  being  persuaded  to  be 
a  Christian;  the  submission  of  the  will  to  Christ;  the  ren- 
dering of  obedience  to  the  heavenly  vision.  The  will  is  the 
rudder  of  the  soul,  and  turneth  it  whithersoever  it  listeth ; 
and  when  that  will  chooses  to  give  in  and  give  up  to  Christ, 
the  man  becomes  a  Christian.  Thus,  in  a  very  solemn  sense, 
God  has  placed  our  everlasting  destiny  in  our  own  choice. 
If  we  receive  life  from  Christ,  it  is  because  we  will  to  come 
to  him  ;  and  if  we  die  eternally,  it  is  because  we  will  to  die. 
No  man  becomes  a  Christian  against  his  will ;  it  is  by  will- 
ing to  be  so  that  he  becomes  a  Christian,  and  it  is  over  this 
willing  that  the  whole  battle  of  conversion  has  to  be  fought. 
There  is  no  one  here  who  may  not  be  saved,  if  he  will. 


Defence  before  Agrippa.  441 

That  if  he  ivill  is  the  Thermopylae  of  the  whole  conflict,  the 
narrow  and  intense  hinge  on  which  the  whole  matter  turns 
— the  gate  into  the  Christian  life.  If  a  man  is  not  a  Chris- 
tian, it  is  not  because  Christ's  work  has  not  been  perfectly 
performed,  or  because  his  own  sins  are  too  great,  or  because 
the  help  of  God's  Spirit  has  been  denied  him,  or  because 
God  has  in  sovereignty  passed  him  by ;  but  it  is,  on  the  tes- 
timony of  the  Lord  himself, because  "he  will  not  come  unto 
him  for  life,"  I  know  that  the  Holy  Spirit's  agency  is 
needed  ;  but  that  will  never  be  withheld  from  him  who  seeks 
it.  And  in  any  case  He  cannot  will  for  us.  He  cannot 
turn  for  us.  He  cannot  obey  for  us.  He  works  for  a  man 
by  working  in  him  and  through  him ;  and  just  as  in  the  case 
of  the  poor  paralytic  no  cure  could  have  been  performed  if 
he  had  refused  at  Christ's  bidding  to  arise,  so  no  salvation 
can  be  enjoyed  by  any  one  who  is  disobedient  to  the  heav- 
enly vision.  There  is  a  divine  agency,  and  there  is  a  hu- 
maa  agency;  but  the  necessity  of  the  divine  does  not  ab- 
solve us  from  the  obligation  to  perform  the  human,  while  we 
have  no  responsibility  whatever  for  the  divine.  So,  again,  I 
come  back  to  the  assertion  that  there  is  no  one  here  who 
may  not  become  a  Christian  if  he  will.  Oh,  that  dread 
power  of  will  which  God  has  conferred  upon  us !  and  how 
inconceivably  awful  the  thought  that  eternity  of  weal  or 
woe,  of  heaven  or  hell,  depends  upon  our  volition !  We 
cannot  rid  ourselves  of  this  responsibility;  you  cannot 
choose  for  me,  nor  I  for  you,  and  Eternity  depends  upon  it. 
There  it  hangs,  O  sinner,  trembling  in  the  balance  of  thy 
choice  !  to  which  shall  it  preponderate  ? 

Observe,  finally,  that  short  of  this  gate  of  entrance,  no 
matter  whether  we  be  far  or  near  from  it,  there  is  no  salva- 
tion. I  cannot  tell  whether  Agrippa  was  sarcastic  or  sin- 
cere in  his  utterance ;  God  knoweth :  but  if  he  was  sarcas- 
tic, he  was  a  long  way  from  the  gate ;  while  if  he  was  sin- 


442  Paul  the  Missionary. 

cere,  he  was  standing  at  its  very  side  ;  and  as  the  nearer 
inchides  the  more  remote,  we  may  point  the  lesson  for  both 
by  saying  that  "  almost  saved,"  if  it  be  no  more,  is  in  the 
end  altogether  lost,  and  that  in  the  most  melancholy  circum- 
stances. Many  years  ago,  on  a  Saturday  morning,  while  I 
sat  in  my  Liverpool  study  preparing  my  sermon  for  the  fol- 
lowing day,  a  telegram  was  put  into  my  hand  announcing  the 
wreck  of  the  ship  Royal  Charter  in  Moelfra  Bay,  on  the  coast 
of  Wales,  and  asking  me  to  go  and  break  the  news  of  her 
husband's  death  by  drowning  to  the  wife  of  the  first  officer. 
The  ship  had  gone  almost  round  the  globe.  She  had  been 
to  Australia,  and  had  been  telegraphed  as  arrived  at  Queens- 
town  on  the  previous  night;  so  that  she  was  anxiously  ex- 
pected that  day  in  the  Mersey.  But  during  the  early  morn- 
ing a  furious  gale — which  I  might  rather  call  a  terrible  hur- 
ricane— sprung  up,  and  she  was  driven  to  destruction  on  that 
fearful  shore,  with  a  loss  of  over  four  hundred  lives.  As  I 
entered  the  house  of  my  parishioner,  I  was  met  by  her  little 
boy,  who  came  dancing  to  me,  and  shouted,  "  Papa's  com- 
ing !  papa's  coming  !"  When  I  went  into  the  parlor,  I  found 
the  table  spread  in  expectation  of  the  arrival  of  him  who 
would  never  cross  the  threshold  again.  I  cannot  tell  how 
I  performed  my  mission  ;  but  after  I  had  told  the  heavy 
news,  the  woman  seemed  almost  stricken  into  marble.  Her 
grief  was  too  deep  for  tears  ;  and  I  can  never  forget  how, 
as  she  seized  my  hand,  the  first  words  that  came  gasping 
out  were  these,  "  So  near  home,  and  yet  lost !"  I  never  saw 
human  anguish  like  that.  But  oh !  that  is  nothing  to  the 
agony  that  must  wring  the  soul  of  him  who  is  at  last  com- 
pelled to  say,  "  Once  I  was  at  the  very  gate  of  life,  and  had 
almost  entered  in ;  but  now  I  am  in  hell."  Oh,  may  God 
grant  that  such  a  soliloquy  may  never  be  uttered  by  any 
one  of  us !  and  to  that  end  let  us  imitate  Saul  at  Damascus, 
rather  than  Agrippa  at  Caesarea. 


XXIV. 

THE  VOYAGE  AND  SHIPWRECK. 

Acts  xxvii. 

A  VOYAGE  from  Caesarea  to  Rome  was,  in  the  apostle's 
days,  a  very  formidable  affair,  because  there  were  no 
regular  and  direct  means  of  communication  between  Judsea 
and  Italy.  We  have  already  seen  that  in  his  journey  from 
Philippi  to  Jerusalem  Paul  had  to  take  one  ship  from  Neap- 
olis  to  Patara,  and  another  from  Patara  to  Phenicia  ;*  and 
even  the  greatest  personages  of  the  empire  had  sometimes 
to  depend  on  such  casual  opportunities  of  transit  as  com- 
merce might  furnish.  Thus,  when  Vespasian  went  to  Rome, 
leaving  Titus  to  prosecute  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  we  are 
told  that  he  sailed  from  Alexandria  to  Rhodes,  and  went 
thence  through  Greece  to  the  Adriatic,  which  he  crossed, 
and  then  passed  through  Italy  overland  to  the  capital. 
Again,  when  Titus  hastened  to  rejoin  his  father,  he  also 
took  passage  in  a  merchant-ship,  and  touched,  as  Paul  did, 
both  at  Rhegium  and  Puteoli.f  We  need  not  be  surprised, 
therefore,  to  find  that,  when  state  prisoners  had  to  be  trans- 
mitted to  the  imperial  capital,  they  were  sent  first  a  part  of 
the  way,  in  the  hope  that  at  an  intervening  port  they  might 
meet  with  some  other  ship  by  which  they  might  be  carried 
forward  another  stage  toward  their  destination.  Thus  it 
was  in  the  instance  before  us.     Along  with  some  other  pris- 

*  Acts  XX.,  6 ;  xxi.,  2.  t  Conybeare  and  Howson,  vol.  ii.,  p.  218. 


444  Taul  the  Missionary. 

oners,  concerning  whon?  we  have  no  information,  Paul  was 
intrusted  to  the  care  of  a  mihtary  escort  belonging  to  the 
cohort  of  Augustus,  and  commanded  by  a  centurion  named 
Julius,  who  seems  to  have  been  characterized  by  amiabilitv 
as  well  as  determination,  and  who  did  much  to  promote  the 
comfort  of  the  apostle.  Among  the  passengers  were  two 
men,  who  accompanied  Paul,  perhaps  by  the  special  favor 
of  Festus,  and  who  were  moved  by  affection  to  go  with  him 
and  minister  to  his  wants.  These  were  Aristarchus  of  ]\Iac- 
edonia,  whom  we  have  met  before  at  Ephesus,  and  Luke,  the 
beloved  physician,  whose  presence  is  modestly  indicated, 
as  usual,  by  his  employment  of  the  first  personal  pronoun 
throughout  this  portion  of  his  narrative. 

The  ship  in  which  they  embarked  was  bound  for  Adra- 
myttium,  a  seaport  of  Mysia,  in  Asia  Minor,  opposite  to  the 
island  of  Lesbos,  and  about  a  hundred  miles  due  north  of 
Smyrna.  It  was  probably  chosen  because  it  was  the  inten- 
tion of  the  centurion  to  go  by  the  coasts  of  proconsular 
Asia,  in  one  or  other  of  the  important  seaports  of  which  he 
felt  certain  of  finding  some  vessel  bound  westward.  On  the 
first  day  they  came  to  Sidon,  where  there  were  some  Chris- 
tian disciples  ;  and  where  the  centurion,  already,  as  it  would 
seem,  favorably  disposed  toward  Paul,  allowed  him  to  go  on 
shore — accompanied,  of  course,  by  his  militar}-  guard — and 
visit  some  friends,  by  whose  fellowship  he  was  refreshed. 
From  Sidon  they  set  sail  with  the  purpose  of  making 
straight  across  the  north-eastern  angle  of  the  Levant,  south 
of  Cyprus  to  the  corner  of  Asia  Minor ;  but  as  the  wind 
was  adverse,  they  were  compelled  to  sail  under  the  lee  of 
CA-pms — that  is.  to  the  north  of  it,  and  not  to  the  south,  as 
in  more  favorable  circumstances  they  would  have  done — 
that  being  the  more  direct  course.  At  length  they  came  to 
Myra,  a  town  of  Lysia,  not  very  far  to  the  east  of  Patara, 
where  they  found  a  corn-ship  from  Alexandria,  bound  for 


The  Voyage  and  Shipwreck.  445 

Italy,  and  into  that  the  soldiers  and  their  prisoners,  vrith  the 
other  passengers,  were  transferred.  "  I\Iyra  was  almost  due 
north  from  Alexandria;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  the 
same  winds  which  forced  the  Adramyttian  ship  to  the  east 
(and  north  of  Cyprus)  drove  the  Alexandrian  ship  to  Myra. 
The  usual  course  from  Alexandria  to  Italy  was  by  the  south 
of  Crete ;  but  when  this  was  impracticable,  vessels  sailing 
from  that  port  were  accustomed  to  stand  north  till  they 
reached  the  coast  of  Asia  jMinor,  and  then  proceed  to  Italy 
through  the  southern  part  of  the  yEgean."*  Thus  this  ves- 
sel was  not  out  of  her  course  at  Myra,  even  if  she  had  no 
call  to  be  there  for  the  purposes  of  commerce.  She  was 
also  of  larger  tonnage  than  those  unacquainted  with  ancient 
navigation  would  suppose ;  for  she  had  a  bulky  cargo,  and 
ultimately  there  were  in  all  two  hundred  and  seventy -six 
souls  on  board.  From  these  facts  we  may  conclude  that 
she  was  of  considerable  burden.  Indeed,  the  ships  engaged 
in  this  corn  trade  between  Eg}'pt,  the  granary  of  the  empire, 
and  Rome,  the  great  centre  of  consumption,  were  commonly 
of  great  size.  In  the  very  next  chapter  of  this  history  we 
read  of  one  which,  in  addition  to  her  own  crew  and  any 
passengers  which  she  might  be  carrying,  could  and  did,  with- 
out inconvenience,  accommodate  the  whole  two  hundred  and 
seventy-six  persons  who  had  been  shipwrecked  on  the  coast 
of  ]\Ielita ;  and  Josephus  tells  us  that  there  were  more  than 
six  hundred  people  in  the  vessel  in  v/hich  he  was  wrecked. 
But  perhaps  the  clearest  idea  of  the  size  and  appearance  of 
such  a  ship  may  be  obtained  from  the  following  description 
by  Lucian  of  one  which  put  into  the  Piraeus  wind-bound. 
We  give  the  translation  as  made  by  Lewin  :t  ''  But  what  a 
ship  it  was !     The  carpenter  said  it  was  one  hundred  and 

*  H.  B.  Hackett,  D.D.,  "  Commentary  on  the  Original  Text  of  The 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,"  p.  415.  t  Vol.  ii.,  p.  188. 


44^  Paul  the  Missionary. 

eighty  feet  long  and  forty-five  feet  wide,  and  from  the  deck 
down  to  the  pump  at  the  bottom  of  the  hold  forty-five  and  a 
half  feet.  And  for  the  rest — what  a  mast  it  had !  and  what  a 
yard  it  carried  !  and  with  what  a  cable  was  it  sustained  !  and 
how  gracefully  the  stern  was  rounded  off,  and  was  surmount- 
ed with  a  golden  goose — the  sign  of  a  corn-ship !  and  at  the 
other  end  how  gallantly  the  prow  sprung  forward,  carrying 
on  either  side  the  goddess  after  whom  the  ship  was  named ! 
And  all  the  rest  of  the  ornament  —  the  painting  and  the 
flaming  pennants,  and  above  all  the  anchors,  and  the  cap- 
stans, and  the  windlasses,  and  the  cabin  next  the  stern — all 
appeared  to  me  perfectly  marvellous  !  and  the  multitude 
of  sailors  one  might  compare  to  a  little  army !  and  it  was 
said  to  carry  corn  enough  tp  suffice  for  a  year's  consump- 
tion for  all  Attica !  and  this  unwieldy  bulk  was  all  managed 
by  that  little,  shrivelled  old  gentleman  with  a  bald  pate,  who 
sat  at  the  helm,  twisting  about,  with  a  bit  of  a  handle,  those 
two  monstrous  oars  on  each  side  which  served  as  rudders." 
On  the  whole,  therefore,  taking  into  consideration  the  trade 
in  which  she  was  engaged,  and  the  number  v/hom  she  ac- 
commodated, we  may  not  be  far  wrong  if  we  set  down  the 
ship  in  which  Paul  embarked  at  Myra  as  about  fifteen  hun- 
dred tons  burden. 

Leaving  Myra,  they  sailed  away  slowly,  for  the  wind  was 
so  contrary  that  it  was  with  difficulty  they  came  over  against 
Cnidus,  Probably  the  wind  was  blowing  from  the  north- 
west— a  direction  which  during  certain  months  of  the  year 
it  very  frequently  takes  in  that  region  ;  still,  by  keeping 
close  to  the  shore,  they  could,  by  the  help  of  the  current 
and  the  land-breeze,  bear  up  to  Cnidus.  That  was  a  prom- 
ontory between  the  islands  of  Coos  and  Rhodes;  and  so 
long  as  they  were  under  its  lee  all  was  well ;  but  the  mo- 
ment they  attempted  to  round  the  cape,  the  full  force  of  the 
north-west  wind  would  come  upon  them.     Here,  therefore, 


The  Voyage  and  Shipwreck.  447 

they  put  about ;  and,  steering  in  a  south-westerly  direction, 
they  with  a  great  effort  made  and  rounded  the  Cape  of  Sal- 
mone,  the  most  easterly  point  of  Crete.     After  that,  sailing 
in  the  lee  of  the  island  of  Crete,  they  came  to  Fair  Havens, 
where  they  cast  anchor.     This  name  was  given  to  two  bays 
adjoining  each  other  on  the  south  coast  of  Crete,  and  a  few 
miles  east  of  Cape  Matala,  the  most  southerly  point  in  the 
island.     They  were  near  a  city  named  Lasea,*  and  though 
open  to  other  points  of  the  compass,  they  were  sheltered 
from  the  wind  against  which  the  mariners  were  now  con- 
tending.    If  they  had  attempted  to  double  the  promontory 
of  Matala,  their  old  enemy,  the  north-west  wind,  would  have 
come  directly  down  upon  them,  and  blown  right  in  their 
teeth  j  and  so  they  lay  in  the  Fair  Havens  waiting  for  favor- 
ing gales.     After  some  delay,  however,  no  change  occurring 
in  the  wind,  a  council  was  held.     The  fast  was  past — that  is 
to  say,  the  great  Day  of  Atonement  in  the  Jewish  calendar 
was  over.     It  was  now,  therefore,  about  the  date  of  the  au- 
tumnal equinox ;  and  the  season  during  which,  in  that  age, 
navigation  in  the  Mediterranean  was  considered  practicable 
was  closed  ;  so  that  they  gave  up  all  hope  of  reaching  Italy 
that  year,  and  came  to  the  determination  to  winter  some- 
v/here.     Paul  advised  that  they  should  remain  where  they 
were.     He  had  had  considerable  seafaring  experience,  since 
even   before   this  voyage   he  had   been  three   times  ship- 
wrecked ;t  and  his  judgment  as  an  intelligent  observer  was 
that,  if  they  attempted  to  go  farther,  they  would  endanger 
both  the  ship,  the  cargo,  and  the  lives  of  the  passengers  and 
crew.    As  it  turned  out,  this  was  very  wise  counsel ;  but  the 

*  The  ruins  of  this  city  were  discovered  just  east  of  Fair  Havens,  by 
the  Rev.  George  Brown,  in  Mr.  Tennant's  yacht  ^/.  Ursida,  Jan.  i6th, 
1856.  See  "  The  Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St,  Paul,"  by  James  Smith, 
Esq.,  of  Jordan-hill,  p.  82,  and  Appendix,  No.  i. 

t  2  Cor.  xi.,  25. 


44^  Paul  the  Missionary. 

centurion,  in  whose  power  it  seems  to  have  been  to  settle  the 
question,  allowed  himself  to  be  swayed  by  the  pilot  and  the 
owner,  and  gave  his  decision  in  favor  of  seeking  for  winter- 
quarters  elsewhere,  so  soon  as  a  good  opportunity  presented 
itself.  There  was  a  favorite  harbor  just  on  the  other  side  of 
the  promontory,  and  only  a  few  hours'  sail  from  w^here  they 
were.  It  was  then  called  Phoenix,  or  Phenice,  and  has  been 
identified  with  the  modern  Lutro.  For  that,  therefore,  as 
soon  as  the  weather  moderated,  and  while  the  south  wind 
was  blowing  softly,  they  set  sail ;  and  in  the  fulness  of  their 
assurance  of  reaching  it  with  ease,  they  did  not  think  it 
needful  to  take  the  little  boat  on  board,  but  were  content  to 
tow  it  astern.  When,  however,  they  reached  the  point,  there 
arose — not  "  against  it,"  meaning  the  ship,  as  w^e  have  it  in 
our  version,  but  "  dow^n  from  it,"  meaning  the  promontory, 
or  the  island — a  furious  gale,  blowing — as  Mr.  Smith,  of  Jor- 
dan-hill, in  his  admirable  monograph  on  this  chapter,  has 
conclusively  proved  —  from  the  east-north-east,  and  called 
Euro-aquilo.^"  Caught  by  such  a  sudden  and  violent  storm, 
the  vessel — so  the  phrase  is,  referring,  perhaps,  to  the  fact 
that  an  eyew^as  very  commonly  painted  on  the  bow — "could 
not  look  at  the  wind;"  and  therefore  they  let  her  scud  be- 
fore it,  and  ran  under  the  lee  of  a  small  island  called  then 
Clauda,  but  now  known  as  Gozzo.  Here,  taking  advantage 
of  the  comparatively  smooth  w^ater,  they  did  three  very  need- 
ful things.  First,  as  furnishing  a  means  of  escape  if  they 
should  be  cast  on  some  shore,  they  took  on  board  the  lit- 
tle boat  which  all  this  while  had  been  in  tow.     This  was  a 

*  Smith,  following  Tischendorf,  Lachmann,  Tregelles,  and  others, 
adopts,  as  sanctioned  by  the  best  MSS.,  the  reading  EvpaKvXwv,  Euro- 
aquilo,  an  east-north-east  wind,  instead  of  EvpoicXvdiov,  anglicized  in  our 
version  Euroclydon.  This  view  has  been  accepted  by  Alford  and  How- 
son  in  their  later  editions,  and  apparently  also  by  Plumptre  in  Ellicott's 
"  New  Testament  Commentary  for  English  Readers,"  in  loco. 


The  Voyage  and  Shipwreck.  449 

work  of  some  difficulty,  not  only  from  the  violence  of  the 
storm,  but  also  because  the  boat  itself  must  by  that  time 
have  been  either  swamped,  or  at  least  nearly  full  of  water. 
Second,  they  undergirded,  or,  in  modern  phrase,  "frapped," 
the  ship.  This  was  done  by  passing  strong  cables  under- 
neath the  keel,  and  coiling  them  round  and  round  the  hull; 
and  the  purpose  was  to  keep  the  vessel  from  straining,  and 
so  from  springing  a  leak — a  danger  which  specially  beset 
ancient  ships,  since,  in  general,  they  had  only  one  huge  mast, 
which  necessarily  strained  severely  the  middle  of  the  ves- 
sel. Third,  "  they  strake  sail  j"  but,  as  Smith  and  Alford 
have  showai,  this  clause  might  be  more  intelligently  render- 
ed, "  they  lowered  the  gear  " — meaning  that  they  made  all 
"  snug."  Their  object  in  this  was  to  keep  themselves  from 
being  driven  before  the  wind  on  to  the  Greater  Syrtis — a 
quicksand  on  the  African  coast;  and  so  we  understand  that, 
in  modern  phrase,  they  "lay  to,"  keeping  her  as  close  to 
the  wind  as  possible,  and  putting  her  on  what  is  called  "  the 
starboard  tack  ;"  that  is,  with  her  right  side  to  the  gale. 
This  procedure,  supposing  the  wind  to  be  north-east,  or 
more  correctly  east-north-east,  would  give  as  the  direction 
of  her  drift  west  by  north ;  and,  taking  the  rate  of  her  drift 
at  thirty-six  miles  in  the  twenty-four  hours — an  average  rate 
in  similar  circumstances,  as  Howson  has  affirmed,  and  many 
practical  seamen  have  assured  me — then,  allowing  that  all 
the  thirteen  days  the  wind  blew  from  the  same  quarter,  we 
have  for  thirteen  days  a  distance  run  of  four  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  miles,  which,  curiously  enough,  is  within  a  few 
miles  of  the  actual  distance  of  St.  Paul's  Bay,  in  Malta, 
west  by  north  from  the  island  of  Clauda.  But  I  must  not 
anticipate. 

On  the  second  day  the  tempest  continued,  and  probably, 
in  spite  of  all  their  precautions,  a  leak  had  sprung;  for 
they  lightened  the  ship  of  everything  that  could  be  spared. 


450  Paul  the  Missionary. 

On  the  third  day  matters  became  worse ;  and  it  is  said  they 
"cast  out  with  their  own  hands  the  tackling  of  the  ship." 
The  word  rendered  "tackling"  is  explained  by  Smith  to 
mean  the  "main-yard,"  an  immense  spar  nearly  as  long  as 
the  ship,  which  it  would  require  the  united  efforts  of  passen- 
gers and  crew  to  launch  overboard.  He  adds  that  "  the 
relief  which  a  ship  would  experience  by  this  would  be  of 
the  same  kind  as  in  a  modern  man-of-war  when  the  guns 
are  thrown  overboard."  Even  this,  however,  does  not  seem 
to  have  very  much  improved  their  situation  ;  for  the  storm 
still  raged,  and  the  uncertainty  of  their  position  was  in- 
creased by  the  fact  that,  owing  to  the  cloudiness  of  the  sky, 
they  could  see  neither  the  sun  by  day  nor  the  stars  by  night. 
Add  to  this  that  the  water  seems  to  have  been  gaining  on 
them  all  the  while,  and  you  will  have  a  vivid  idea  of  the  dis- 
mal circumstances  in  which  they  were  placed,  and  will  not 
wonder  that  there  was  much  abstinence,  for  there  would  be 
little  opportunity  and  less  inclination  to  have  anything  like 
regular  meals. 

In  this  season  of  utter  hopelessness,  Paul  stood  forward 
with  calm  self-possession  and  noble  Christian  faith,  and 
made  an  announcement  which  must  have  comforted  and 
reassured  his  fellow-voyagers.  He  referred  to  the  advice 
which  he  had  given  at  Fair  Havens,  not  so  much,  however, 
to  taunt  them  for  rejecting  it,  as  to  secure  their  confidence 
in  that  which  he  was  now  about  to  say.  He  bade  them  be 
of  good  cheer ;  for  he  was  persuaded  that,  though  it  would 
be  impossible  to  save  either  the  ship  or  the  cargo,  there 
would  yet  be  no  loss  of  life  among  them  ;  and  he  gave,  as 
the  foundation  on  which  this  conviction  rested,  the  fact  that 
the  angel  of  Him  whose  he  was  and  whom  he  served  had 
appeared  unto  him,  and  declared  not  only  that  he  himself 
should  stand  before  Caesar,  but  also  that  the  lives  of  all  who 
were  with  him  had  been  given  to  his  entreaty.    "  Wherefore, 


The  Voyage  and  Shipwreck.  451 

sirs,"  he  adds,  with  happy  cheerfulness  and  simple  trust,  "  be 
of  good  cheer  :  for  I  believe  God,  that  it  shall  be  even  as 
it  was  told  me.  Howbeit  v;e  must  be  cast  upon  a  certain 
island." 

At  length,  after  having  been  driven — not  "  up  and  down," 
as  we  have  it  in  our  version,  but — through  the  Mediterra- 
nean for  thirteen  days,  on  the  fourteenth  night,  about  mid- 
night, the  sailors  "  deemed  that  they  drew  near  to  some 
country."  We  are  not  told  what  the  indications  were  which 
led  them  to  this  conclusion ;  but,  taking  into  consideration 
the  darkness  in  which  they  were,  we  may  believe  that  they 
heard  the  sound  of  breakers.  If  this  were  so,  it  is  an  inter- 
esting coincidence  that  in  approaching  St.  Paul's  Bay,  the 
traditional  site  of  the  shipwreck,  from  the  east,  the  voyager 
must  pass  near  the  point  of  Koura,  where  the  land  is  "  too 
low  to  be  seen  on  a  stormy  night,  but  where  the  breakers 
can  be  heard  at  a  considerable  distance,  and  in  a  north- 
easterly gale  are  so  violent  as  to  form  on  charts  the  dis- 
tinctive feature  of  that  headland.  On  the  loth  of  August, 
18 10,  the  British  frigate  Lively  fell  upon  these  breakers  in  a 
dark  night,  and  was  lost.  The  quartermaster,  who  first  ob- 
served them,  stated  in  his  evidence  at  the  court-martial,  that 
at  the  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile  the  land  could  not 
be  seen,  but  that  he  saw  the  surf  on  the  shore."*  Imme- 
diately on  their  suspecting  that  land  was  near,  the  sailors, 
who  exhibited  good  seamanship  all  through,  heaved  the 
lead,  and  found  a  depth  of  twenty  fathoms ;  then,  taking  a 
second  sounding  shortly  after,  they  found  fifteen.  They 
judged,  therefore,  that  they  were  rapidly  approaching  some 
shore,  and  took  prompt  measures  to  avoid  destruction  by 

*  H.  B.  Hackett,  D.D.,  "  Commentary  on  the  Original  Text  of  The 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,"  pp.  434,  435.  The  same  evidence  is  referred  to 
by  Smith,  pp.  130,  131. 


452  Paul  the  Missionary. 

casting  four  anchors  out  of  the  stern.  This  has  been  re- 
garded as  so  unnatural,  that  some  have  ridiculed  the  state- 
ment as  absurd.  But  though  among  the  ancients,  as  among 
ourselves,  the  common  practice  was  to  anchor  from  the  bow, 
yet  provision  was  made  in  their  ship  for  doing  just  what  is 
here  described;  for  among  the  paintings  in  Pompeii  one  has 
been  found  of  a  vessel  having  hawse-holes  in  the  stern,  and 
Howson  assures  us  that  even  in  the  present  day  we  may 
see  in  the  Golden  Horn,  at  Constantinople,  ships  anchored 
in  this  peculiar  way.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that,  at  the 
Battle  of  Copenhagen,  Nelson,  who  had  been  reading  this 
chapter  of  The  Acts  that  very  morning,  ordered  that  all  the 
line-of-battle  ships  should  be  anchored  by  the  stern  ;  and  I 
have  myself  been  informed  by  an  experienced  ship-master 
that  in  the  Chinese  seas  this  course  is  frequently  adopted. 
In  the  instance  before  us,  there  were  good  reasons  for  tak- 
ing such  a  plan.  Remember,  these  sailors  had  no  idea  where 
they  were.  For  anything  they  knew,  they  might  be  so  near 
the  rocks  that  if  they  allowed  the  ship  to  swing  round  by  the 
bow,  she  might  have  grounded  at  once.  Besides,  their  only 
hope,  when  the  morning  should  dawn,  was  to  run  her  ashore 
at  some  safe  place,  and  by  anchoring  in  this  way  they  could 
more  speedily  bring  her  under  control  when  they  should  cut 
the  cables  and  make  that  last  attempt  for  their  lives.  All 
this,  as  we  shall  afterward  find,  they  did. 

But,  immediately  after  the  anchors  had  been  cast,  a  new 
danger  threatened,  in  the  selfish  attempt  made  by  the  sail- 
ors to  save  themselves  by  taking  to  the  boat,  and  leaving 
the  passengers  to  their  fate.  They  were  in  the  act  of  low- 
ering the  boat  on  the  pretence  of  taking  another  anchor  out 
of  the  bow,  when  the  apostle,  divining  their  purpose,  direct- 
ed the  attention  of  the  centurion  to  their  conduct,  saying, 
"  Except  these  men  abide  in  the  ship,  ye  cannot  be  saved." 
At  once  he  commanded  the  soldiers  to  cut  the  ropes  by 


The  Voyage  and  Shipwreck.  453 

which  the  boat  was  suspended,  and,  much  to  the  mortifica- 
tion of  the  seamen,  it  was  allowed  to  go  adrift. 

As  the  morning  was  drawing  near,  Paul  stood  forth  once 
more  as  a  counsellor  and  comforter.  He  tenderly  referred 
to  the  privations  through  which  they  had  passed,  and,  as- 
suring them  of  their  ultimate  safety,  besought  them  to  eat 
while  they  had  the  opportunity,  and  thereby  strengthen 
themselves  for  what  was  still  before  them.  Then,  having 
taken  bread  in  his  own  hands,  he  gave  thanks  to  God  in 
the  presence  of  them  all,  and  began  to  eat.  The  effect  of 
this  was  excellent.  It  raised  the  spirits  of  the  company, 
and  prepared  them  for  the  hardships  of  the  next  few  hours. 
But  what  a  scene  it  must  have  been !  If  I  had  the  skill  of 
an  artist,  I  should  like  to  paint  it  as  I  see  it  all  before  the 
eye  of  my  imagination  now — these  two  hundred  and  seven- 
ty-five persons,  all  pale  and  careworn,  standing  round  the 
calm  apostle  in  the  darkness,  amid  the  pelting  rain,  while  he 
lifts  his  voice  above  the  roaring  of  the  wind  and  the  boom 
of  the  breakers,  and  gives  thanks  to  God.  The  hardy  sail- 
ors are  lost  in  wonderment  at  his  behavior ;  the  stern  sol- 
diers are  hushed  into  silent  reverence  by  his  deportment; 
the  passengers  know  not  what  to  make  of  his  words,  and 
there  are  only  Luke  and  Aristarchus  to  say  Amen  at  his 
giving  of  thanks.  But  the  influence  of  that  act  of  his  is 
living  yet.  It  was  a  little  thing  to  do.  The  neglect  or 
omission  of  it  might  never  have  been  observed ;  but  the 
doing  of  it  was  to  these  forlorn  passengers  at  the  time,  and 
has  been  to  most  readers  of  the  story  since,  a  sermon  on 
Christian  gratitude  more  eloquent  than  the  appeal  of  the 
orator,  and  more  convincing  than  the  reasoning  of  the  lo- 
gician. 

Refreshed  by  this  extempore  meal,  the  sailors  took  new 
means  to  insure  their  safety  by  casting  the  cargo  out  of  the 
hold.     Perhaps  it  had  shifted  in  the  gale ;  and,  in  any  case, 


454  Paul  the  Missionary. 

as  their  purpose  was  to  run  ashore,  it  was  important  to  make 
the  ship  as  light  as  possible.  At  length,  when  the  morning 
dawned  amid  a  down -pour  of  rain,  the  shore  was  clearly 
seen,  but  the  sailors  did  not  recognize  the  land.  Nor  need 
we  be  surprised  at  that ;  for  St.  Paul's  Bay  is  on  the  north 
shore  of  Malta,  which  was  out  of  the  usual  course  of  ships, 
and  therefore  not  likely  to  be  known  from  the  sea,  though 
as  soon  as  they  landed  they  discovered  that  they  were  on 
Melita.  After  they  descried  the  land,  their  first  care  was  to 
look  for  a  place  at  which  they  might  run  the  vessel  aground ; 
and  they  very  soon  made  choice  of  a  certain  "  creek  with  a 
shore,"  that  is,  "  with  a  sandy  or  pebbly  beach."  In  mak- 
ing for  that,  they  did  three  things,  which,  though  they  are 
separately  described,  must  have  been  performed  simultane- 
ously. First,  "they  took  up  the  anchors  " — or,  rather,  as  it 
is  in  the  margin,  "  they  cut  away,  or  cut  round  the  hawsers 
that  held  the  anchors,  leaving  the  latter  in  the  sea ;"  second, 
*'  they  loosed  the  rudder  bands  " — that  is,  they  dropped  into 
the  water  the  steering  paddles,  which  had  been  trussed  up 
out  of  the  way  of  the  anchor  cables,  and  so  brought  the  ves- 
sel at  once  under  control ;  third,  they  hoisted  what  is  here 
called  "  the  main-sail,"  but  what  corresponded  rather  to  the 
foresail  among  us,  the  object  being  to  give  the  ship  greater 
way,  and  thus  at  once  increase  the  power  of  the  steering 
gear,  and  carry  the  vessel  with  more  impetus  upon  the 
beach. 

Thus,  then,  they  made  for  the  shore,  and  ran  aground  in 
a  place  where  two  seas  or  currents  met  The  explanation 
of  these  currents  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that,  just  at  the 
extremity  of  St.  Paul's  Bay,  there  is  a  small  island  (Salmo- 
netta),  which,  from  the  point  where  the  ship  was  anchored, 
would  seem  to  be  a  part  of  the  main -land  of  Malta,  but 
which,  as  they  came  nearer  the  shore,  would  be  seen  to  be 
an  island.     Through  the  strait,  between  this  island  and  the 


The  Voyage  and  Shipwreck.  455 

shore,  a  strong  current  swejDt ;  and  that,  meeting  the  swell 
which  the  storm  had  created,  made  the  bay  a  place  where 
two  seas  came  into  collision.  When  the  vessel  grounded, 
"  the  forepart  stuck  fast,  and  remained  unmovable,  but  the 
hinder  part  was  broken  with  the  violence  of  the  waves."  Of 
this  Mr.  Smith  gives  the  following  lucid  explanation :  "The 
rocks  of  Malta  disintegrate  into  very  minute  particles  of 
sand  and  clay,  v;hich,  when  acted  upon  by  the  currents,  or 
by  a  surface  agitation,  form  a  deposit  of  tenacious  clay ;  but 
in  still  water,  where  these  causes  do  not  act,  mud  is  formed. 
It  is  only,  however,  in  the  creeks  where  there  are  no  cur- 
rents, and  at  such  a  depth  as  to  be  undisturbed  by  the 
waves,  that  mud  occurs.  In  Admiral  Smyth's  chart  of  the 
bay,  the  nearest  soundings  to  the  mud  indicate  a  depth  of 
about  three  fathoms,  which  is  about  what  a  large  ship  would 
draw.  A  ship,  therefore,  impelled  by  the  force  of  a  gale 
into  a  creek  with  a  bottom  such  as  that  laid  down  in  the 
chart,  would  strike  a  bottom  of  mud  graduating  into  tena- 
cious clay,  into  which  the  forepart  would  fix  itself  and  be 
held  fast,  while  the  stern  [would  be]  exposed  to  the  force  of 
the  waves."" 

At  this  point  the  soldiers,  remembering  that  they  were  an- 
swerable for  their  prisoners  with  their  lives,  advised  the  cen- 
turion to  kill  them  all ;  and  in  these  unscrupulous  tim.es 
their  counsel  might  have  prevailed,  but  for  the  fact  that 
the  commanding  officer,  conscious  of  the  obligations  under 
which  Paul  had  laid  them,  and  drawn  to  him  also,  perhaps, 
by  some  personal  regard,  determined  to  save  his  life.  So 
he  gave  command  that  those  who  could  swim  should  save 
themselves,  and  that  the  rest  should  float  ashore  by  the 
help  of  "boards  and  broken  pieces  of  the  ship.  And  so  it 
came  to  pass  that  they  escaped  all  safe  to  land." 

*  **The  Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul,"  fourth  edition,  p.  144. 

20 


456  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Thus  ends  this  deeply  interesting  story  of  storm  and 
shipwreck.  I  have  given  a  connected  view  of  the  narrative, 
without  breaking  in  upon  the  continuity  with  any  practical 
reflections,  because  I  wish  you  to  get  a  clear  conviction  of 
its  value  as  furnishing,  in  itself,  a  very  cogent  proof  of  the 
genuineness  and  authenticity  of  the  history  of  which  it  forms 
a  part.  Two  things  are  patent  to  every  reader.  First,  it  is 
the  production  of  an  eye-witness  who  tells  what  he  saw ;  and 
it  reads  as  naturally  as  does  the  deposition  before  a  court 
of  inquiry,  of  some  survivor  from  shipwreck  in  our  own 
times.  Second,  it  is  the  work  of  one  who  was  himself  a 
landsman,  and  therefore  it  is  unprofessional  and  free  from 
all  technical  terms.  But  this  avoidance  of  sea-phrases  only 
enables  the  writer  to  describe  with  more  artless  truthfulness 
all  that  passed  before  his  eyes.  As  one  has  said,  "  It  is 
just  where  a  landsman  makes  the  most  ridiculous  exposure 
of  his  ignorance,  that  the  historian  has  ventured  on  details 
as  minute  as  those  of  a  Marryat  or  a  Cooper."*  Now, 
with  these  two  things  in  mind,  let  any  one  take  up  the  work 
on  "  The  Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul,"  by  Mr.  Smith, 
of  Jordan-hill,  and  observe  how  that  painstaking  investigat- 
or, sailing  repeatedly  over  the  same  waters,  has  verified  the 
statements  of  Luke  in  every  particular,  and  he  will  obtain 
the  conviction  out  of  which  nothing  will  be  able  to  shake 
him,  that  this  whole  narrative  was  written  by  one  who  speaks 
the  simple  and  unvarnished  truth.  A  landsman  who  was 
trying  to  forge  a  story  could  not  have  so  accurately  de- 
scribed the  manoeuvring  of  a  ship ;  and  if  a  seaman  had 
undertaken  to  give  an  account  of  it,  he  would  have  done  it 
in  a  very  different  manner.  Thus  we  have  in  this  chapter 
another  incidental  argument  for  the  credibility  of  Luke's 
narrative  as  a  whole.      The  estimate  which  I  have  of  its 

*  "  The  New  Testament  History,"  by  William  Smith,  LL.D.,  p.  559. 


The  Voyage  and  Shipwreck.  457 

value  in  this  regard  has  impelled  me  to  go  somewhat 
minutely  into  its  consideration ;  and  I  have  failed  where 
I  was  most  anxious  to  succeed,  if  I  have  not  made  you 
sharers  with  me  in  the  conviction  which  I  have  just  ex- 
pressed. 

But,  though  I  have  detained  you  thus  long  on  the  expo- 
sition of  the  story,  I  cannot  let  you  go  without  pointing  out 
to  you  a  few  of  the  lessons  in  which  it  is  so  rich. 

We  are  reminded,  then,  in  the  first  place,  of  the  consola- 
tory truth  which  has  passed  into  one  of  our  common  prov- 
erbs, that  "  man's  extremity  is  God's  opportunity."  It  was 
after  "all  hope  that  they  should  be  saved  had  been  taken 
away  "  that  the  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  unto  Paul,  and 
gave  him  the  assurance  that  no  life  should  be  lost.  On 
several  other  occasions  in  the  history  of  the  apostle  a  celes- 
tial messenger  came  to  him  with  comforting  words,  and  each 
time  the  consolation  was  imparted  when  all  human  help 
seemed  impotent.  God  delays  long  enough  to  let  our  help- 
lessness become  apparent,  and  then  he  comes  in  such  a  way 
as  to  leave  no  doubt  in  our  minds  that  the  relief  is  divine. 
Admirably  has  this  truth  been  brought  out  in  that  psalm* 
of  God's  loving-kindness  which  has  become  so  precious  to 
us  as  the  traveller's  hymn.  To  the  wanderers  in  the  desert, 
to  the  prisoners  in  the  dungeon,  to  the  sailors  on  the  deep, 
he  came  only  when,  constrained  by  their  extremity,  they 
cried  to  him  for  succor ;  and  as  we  have  been  reviewing  this 
chapter  in  the  apostle's  history,  we  cannot  but  have  had 
recalled  to  our  memories  that  graphic  description,  "  They 
mount  up  to  the  heaven,  they  go  down  again  to  the  depths  : 
their  soul  is  melted  because  of  trouble.  They  reel  to  and 
fro,  and  stagger  like  a  drunken  man,  and  are  at  their  wits' 
end.     Then  they  cry  unto  the  Lord,"  and  forthwith — 

*  Psa.  cvii. 


458  Paul  the  Missionary. 

"  The  storm  is  changed  into  a  cahii 
At  his  command  and  will, 
So  that  the  waves,  which  raged  before, 
Now  quiet  are  and  still." 

In  the  present  instance,  indeed,  it  is  not  said  in  so  many 
words  that  Paul  prayed  unto  the  Lord ;  but  in  the  angel's 
words  to  him, "  Lo,  God  hath  given  thee  all  them  that  sail 
with  thee,"  there  is  an  implication  that  he  had  asked  this 
great  favor  from  his  Master ;  and  in  any  case  the  whole  his- 
tory teaches  us  that  when  we  are  clearly  on  God's  business, 
he  will  take  care  of  us,  and  in  the  time  of  our  greatest  peril 
will  send  us  his  richest  help.  "A  man  is  immortal  till  his 
v/ork  is  done;"  and  if  God  wishes  us  to  bear  testimony 
for  him  in  Rome,  he  will  find  the  means  of  taking  us  thith- 
er ;  while  if  our  course  on  earth  is  finished,  he  will  receive 
us  to  himself.  What  strength  there  is  in  that  consideration 
to  all  v/ho  are  engaged  in  the  service  of  Christ !  God  him- 
self v^^ill  be  our  shield  so  long  as  he  requires  us  to  labor  for 
him  on  earth;  and  neither  the  conspiracies  of  malignant 
men,  nor  the  fury  of  the  elements,  can  harm  us  until  our 
work  is  finished.  While  he  needs  us  we  bear  charmed  lives  ; 
and  then,  when  we  are  no  longer  required,  he  will  be  our 
support  in  death. 

We  are  reminded,  in  the  second  place,  that  faith  is  the 
root  of  courage.  I  do  not  know  that  there  is,  in  the  whole 
compass  of  the  Word  of  God,  a  more  beautiful  or  a  more 
simple  example  of  the  nature  and  results  of  faith,  than  that 
furnished  by  Paul  when  he  says,  "  Wherefore,  sirs,  be  of 
good  cheer:  for  I  believe  God,  that  it  shall  be  even  as  it 
was  told  me."  If  any  one  wishes  to  learn  what  it  is  to 
have  faith  in  Christ,  we  can  give  him  no  better  answer  than 
this  :  "  It  is  to  believe,  the  Lord  Jesus  that  it  shall  be  even 
as  he  has  told  us,  when  he  has  said, '  Thy  sins  be  forgiven 
thee ;  go  in  peace.' "     Then — as  to  the  effect  produced  by 


The  Voyage  and  Shipwreck.  459 

this  faith — observe  how  calm,  how  cheerful,  how  courageous 
Paul  was.  He  was  in  perfect  peace  because  his  mind  was 
stayed  on  God  ;  and  when  our  souls  confide  in  the  divine  as- 
surances, we  too  shall  be  at  rest.  No  doubt  Paul's  calmness 
here  is  to  be  traced  to  the  angel's  message ;  but  yet,  though 
there  had  been  no  pledge  given  him  that  no  life  should  be 
lost,  he  would,  from  what  we  know  of  him,  have  been  just  as 
tranquil.  The  man  who  could  look  forward  to  martyrdom 
and  say,  "  I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered,"  would  not  have 
been  dismayed  at  the  thought  of  being  drowned;  and  often, 
in  the  history  of  modern  commerce,  we  have  had  most  mov- 
ing instances  of  the  power  of  divine  grace  in  supporting 
men  and  women  in  the  moment  of  death  by  shipwreck. 
Away  back  some  thirty  or  more  years  ago,  when  the  Pegasus, 
on  her  voyage  from  Leith  to  London,  went  down,  the  Rev. 
Morell  ISIackenzie,  one  of  the  passengers,  was  seen  stand- 
ing forth  to  the  very  last,  preaching  the  Gospel  to  his  fel- 
low-passengers, and  he  went  dovm  with  the  message  of  sal- 
vation on  his  lips.  Nor  can  I  forget  the  impression  made 
upon  me  when  I  heard  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Burns,  of  Glas- 
gow— an  old  man  of  more  than  fourscore  years — v/ho,  when 
the  steamer  Orion  went  down  upon  the  Scottish  coast,  was 
last  seen  by  the  survivor  who  described  the  wreck  to  me, 
kneeling,  with  his  head  uncovered,  beside  the  smoke-stack  ; 
and  thus,  commending  himself  into  the  hands  of  God,  sunk 
into  the  deep.  In  more  recent  times  all  Christendom  was 
stirred  by  the  account  given  by  one  of  the  survivors  from  the 
steamship  City  of  London,  of  the  Rev.  Daniel  Baker,  a  Meth- 
odist clergyman  from  Australia,  who,  just  before  the  ship 
went  down,  gave  out  in  the  midst  of  the  passengers  in  the 
cabin,  and  led  in  the  singing  of  the  hymn,  "  Jesus,  Lover  of 
my  Soul " — a  hymn  vvhich  I  rarely  read  now  v/ithout  think- 
ing of  that  scene,  which  hangs  in  my  imagination  a  compan- 
ion picture  to  that  of  Paul  as  to-night  I  have  described  him. 


460  Paul  the  Missionary. 

And,  to  mention  no  more,  who  among  us  has  forgotten  the 
touching  descriptions  which  came  some  five  years  ago  from 
the  survivors  of  the  Ville  du  Havre?  I  saw  a  letter,  writ- 
ten by  a  mother  concerning  one  of  her  daughters,  from 
v;hich  I  select  the  following  words :  "  Lallie  threw  her  arms 
around  me,  and  said,  '  Forgive  tcq,  mamma,  if  I  have  ever 
done  wrong.'  (We  started  in  haste  for  the  other  side  of  the 
ship — water  all  about  us.)  '  Don't  be  frightened,  mamma  and 
Helen;  it  will  only  be  a  moment's  struggle,  and  then  we  will 
be  in  heaven  together.' "  Could  anything  more  satisfacto- 
rily demonstrate  the  value  of  faith  in  Christ  than  such  in- 
cidents as  these?  Oh,  my  friends,  get  that;  for  it  is  an 
anchor  that  shall  never  start.  Get  it  now,  for  it  is  as  valu- 
able amid  the  storms  of  temptation  on  land  as  it  is  amid 
the  dangers  of  the  sea. 

We  are  reminded,  thirdly,  that  God's  promise  does  not 
absolve  us  from  the  necessity  of  using  means.  Though  the 
Lord  had  assured  Paul  that  no  life  would  be  lost,  the  apos- 
tle would  not  allow  the  sailors  to  leave,  but  said,  "  Except 
these  men  abide  in  the  ship,  ye  cannot  be  saved ;"  and  in 
the  after  events  we  see  how  necessary  they  were  for  the 
beaching  of  the  vessel.  Now  that  incident  throws  consid- 
erable light  on  some  dark  passages  of  the  New  Testament. 
It  helps  to  explain  to  us  how,  though  Paul  said,  "  Nothing 
shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,"  he  also 
said,  "  I  keep  under  my  body,  and  bring  it  into  subjection  : 
lest  that  by  any  means,  when  I  have  preached  to  others,  I 
myself  should  be  a  castaway."^  It  assists  us  to  understand 
how,  though  there  is  an  eternal  election  of  men  to  salva- 
tion, there  is  need  for  personal  faith  and  vigilance  if  we 
wish  to  be  saved;  and  it  is  a  stern  rebuke  to  those  who 
fold  their  hands  in  idleness,  and  say,  "  If  I  am  to  be  saved, 

*  Rom.  viii,,  39  ;  I  Cor.  ix.,  27. 


The  Voyage  and  Shipwreck.  461 

I  shall  be  saved."  Paul  believed  in  God's  purposes  and 
promises,  but  he  was  no  blind  fatalist  for  all  that ;  for  he 
held  as  earnestly  by  the  necessity  of  human  activity  as  he 
did  by  the  reality  of  the  divine  foreordination.  He  did 
not  run  away  with  one-half  of  the  truth,  and  maintain  that 
he  had  got  the  whole  truth ;  but,  looking  on  the  subject  in 
the  light  of  God,  he  savv^  both  sides  of  it,  and  held  them 
both  with  equal  tenacity. 

Finally,  we  are  reminded  how  good  it  is  to  be  in  the  com- 
pany of  Christian  men.  The  crew  and  passengers  of  this 
ship^  were  saved  for  Paul's  sake.  Every  clergyman  who 
has  ever  made  a  voyage  of  any  length  knows  how  the  sail- 
ors banter  him  about  being  unlucky,  and  speak  of  him  and 
his  brethren  as  Jonahs ;  but  always,  when  I  have  been  so 
assailed,  I  have  brought  up  this  case  of  Paul,  and  then  the 
laugh  has  been  on  the  other  side ;  for  here  the  sailors  do 
not  show  to  the  best  advantage.  One  Paul  saved  this 
whole  company.  Ten  righteous  men  would  have  saved 
Sodom  ;  and  it  is  the  Christian  men  in  New  York  to-day 
who  are  preserving  it  from  putrefaction.  They  are  the  salt 
of  the  city ;  and  so  long  as  they  keep  their  savor,  there  is 
little  to  fear;  but  if  the  salt  shall  lose  its  savor,  the  end 
will  be  near.  Here,  then,  I  take  my  stand  for  my  final  ap- 
peal to-night.  I  ask  you  to  become  more  positive,  more 
aggressive,  more  upright,  more  earnest  in  your  Christianity, 
that  you  may  lift  the  city  up  to  a  nobler  moral  elevation, 
and  may  keep  the  ship  of  the  State  from  peril.  Act  so 
that  your  fellow-citizens  may  "  learn  by  experience  "  that 
God  is  with  you,  and  is  blessing  them  for  your  sakes.  Re- 
member that  the  Christianity  of  the  land  is  its  only  true 
conservative  influence.  This  is  our  safeguard ;  and  so,  as 
patriots  no  less  than  as  men  of  piety,  as  citizens  no  less 
than  as  Christians,  I  beseech  you  to  conduct  yourselves  in 
such  a  way  that  you  may  raise  the  whole  moral  tone  of  the 


462  Paul  the  Missionary. 

community,  and  make  politics  a  branch  of  Christian  ethics. 
A  few  Pauls  among  us  would  do  the  work.  Give  us  men 
who  believe  God — that  it  shall  be  as  he  has  told  us,  in  the 
high  places  of  our  government,  in  our  chairs  of  office,  and  in 
our  halls  of  legislature,  and  that  will  insure  us  a  prosperity 
which  no  storm  of  selfishness  or  whirlwind  of  partisanship 
shall  ever  imperil. 


XXV. 

MALTA,  PUTEOLI,  AND  APPII  FORUM. 

Acts  xxviii.,  1-15. 

RESCUED  from  the  perils  of  shipwreck,  the  first  care 
of  Paul  and  his  fellows  was  to  discover  where  they 
were ;  and  very  soon,  as  the  result  either  of  direct  inquiries 
of  the  inhabitants  or  of  investigation  by  the  sailors,  they 
found  that  they  had  been  cast  on  the  shore  of  Melita.  As 
we  intimated  in  our  last  discourse,  almost  all  scholars  are 
now  of  opinion  that  this  name  designates  our  modern  Malta, 
and  the  point  may  be  considered  as  having  been  conclu- 
sively settled  by  the  exhaustive  researches  of  Mr.  Smith. 
No  doubt,  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  Gulf  of  Venice 
there  is  an  island  which  was  anciently  called  Meleda  ;^  and 
some,  among  whom  we  are  surprised  to  find  one  so  eminent 
as  Coleridge,  have  contended  that  we  must  look  there  for 
the  scene  of  the  events  with  v/hich  we  are  now  concerned. 

But not  to  say  that  it  seems  unaccountable  that  a  vessel, 

caught  in  a  gale  which  m^ade  the  sailors  afraid  lest  they 
should  be  driven  southward  on  to  the  Syrtis,  should  yet 
drift  away  seven  hundred  miles  to  the  north,  nor  to  insist 
on  the  fact  that  such  a  place  was  altogether  out  of  the  usual 
course  of  Alexandrian  corn-ships,  so  that  the  wintering  in 
it  of  a  vessel  like  the  Castor  and  Pollux  was  most  unlikely 
—the  positive  grounds  in  behalf  of  the  identification  of  Me- 
lita with  Malta  are  irresistible. 

In  the  first  place,  tradition  has  all  along  connected  that 
island  with  the  shipwreck  of  the  apostle  ;  and  though,  in  the 


464  Paul  the  Missionary. 

absence  of  all  other  proofs,  we  could  not  depend  on  that 
evidence  alone,  yet  when  we  find  other  arguments  converg- 
ing toward  the  same  conclusion,  we  are  warranted  in  re- 
ferring to  it  as  corroborative.  Further,  Malta  answers  all 
the  requirements  of  the  narrative.  It  lies  from  Clauda 
precisely  in  the  direction  in  which  a  vessel,  handled  as  we 
described  last  Sabbath  evening,  would  drift ;  and  its  dis- 
tance from  Clauda  corresponds  to  that  over  which  such  a 
ship  would  pass  when  "laid-to"  for  thirteen  days;  while 
the  locality  of  St.  Paul's  Bay  not  only  fits  the  description 
here  given,  but  actually  enables  us  to  understand  it  more 
clearly.  We  have  the  lowland  first  heralded  by  breakers ; 
v;e  have  to  this  day  the  soundings  as  here  given  ;  we  have 
the  place  where  two  seas  meet,  and  the  creek  with  a  sandy 
beach ;  and  so  ever3^thing  agrees  with  what  is  here  deline- 
ated. Moreover,  the  island  of  Malta  is  in  the  direct  line 
of  ships  sailing  from  Alexandria  to  Italy ;  and  so  we  do  not 
wonder  at  finding  another  corn-ship  wintering  there.  True, 
it  maybe  said,  that  this  consideration  tells  also  against  Mal- 
ta, inasmuch  as  the  sailors  might  have  been  presumed  to 
know  any  part  of  the  coast  of  that  island ;  but  in  answer  to 
that  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  St.  Paul's  Bay  is  on  the 
northern  side  of  Malta,  and  hence  would  not  be  seen  by 
them  on  ordinary  occasions. 

The  objections  which  have  been  raised  against  this  view 
are  quite  untenable.  It  has  been  said,  for  example,  that 
Malta  is  in  the  Mediterranean  and  not  in  the  Adriatic ;  and 
no  doubt,  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  term  Adriatic,  this  is 
true  ;  but  in  Roman  literature  the  name  Adria  was  frequent- 
ly used  in  such  a  way  as  to  include  a  large  portion  of  the 
Mediterranean.  Again,  it  has  been  said  that  there  are  now 
no  snakes  in  Malta,  and  so  the  presence  of  the  viper  here 
must  be  held  as  conclusive  evidence  that  it  cannot  have 
been  Melita;  but  to  that  it  is  answered  that  in  proportion 


Malta,  Puteoli,  and  Appii  Forum.  465 

as  the  density  of  population  in  a  place  increases,  the  wild 
beasts  diminish  in  numbers,  and  ultimately  disappear  alto- 
gether. Now,  Malta  is  remarkable  to-day  for  the  density 
of  its  population ;  for,  except  in  some  of  our  own  large  cities 
or  in  the  manufacturing  districts  of  England,  we  shall  scarce- 
ly find  anywhere  so  many  people  within  so  small  an  area 
as  there  are  there.  Finally,  it  is  alleged  that  in  the  apos- 
tle's days  the  inhabitants  of  Malta  were  in  an  advanced 
state  of  civilization,  whereas  in  this  narrative  they  are  styled 
"  barbarous  people."  But  to  that  it  is  only  necessary  to  re- 
ply that  the  term  "  barbarous  "  here  refers  to  the  language 
of  the  people  and  not  to  the  absence  of  civilization  from 
the  island.  To  a  Greek,  every  man  who  could  not  speak 
his  polished  language  was  a  barbarian  ;  and  by  a  Roman, 
every  one  who  could  not  understand  Latin  was  called  by 
the  same  name.  If  proof  of  this  be  required,  we  have  it  in 
the  fact  that,  when  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  Paul  is 
reasoning  concerning  tongues,  he  says,  "  If  I  know  not  the 
meaning  of  the  voice,  I  shall  be  unto  him  that  speaketh  a 
barbarian,  and  he  that  speaketh  shall  be  a  barbarian  unto 
me."*  I  have  been  thus  particular  on  a  matter  of  mere  lo- 
cality, not  because  it  has  any  great  intrinsic  importance,  but 
because,  in  these  days,  when  European  travel  is  so  popular, 
some  of  you  may  have  the  opportunity  of  visiting  Malta, 
and  I  wish  that  it  may  have  in  your  minds  an  abiding  in- 
terest as  the  indubitable  scene  of  the  incidents  which  are 
here  recorded. 

The  conduct  of  the  inhabitants  of  Malta  on  the  occasion 
before  us  was  in  the  highest  degree  praiseworthy.  Unlike 
those  wreckers  that  have  sometimes  been  met  with  on  the 
shores  of  nominally  Christian  lands,  these  heathens  proved 
their  humanity  by  showing  kindness  in  a  rough-and-ready, 

*  I  Cor.  xiv.,  II. 


466  Paul  the  Missionary. 

but  yet  also  in  a  serviceable  and  substantial  manner.  See- 
ing the  shipwrecked  ones  shivering  in  the  cold  and  rain, 
they  kindled  a  fire  for  them  and  received  them  every  one,  i.  e., 
they  took  them  at  once  to  their  hearts.  But  even  here  Paul 
was  a  leading  spirit  among  his  companions ;  and  by  a  lit- 
tle thing  he  showed  at  once  the  active  energy  and  kindly 
thoughtfulness  of  his  character.  He  gathered  a  bundle  of 
sticks  and  laid  them  on  the  fire.  Hardly  had  he  done  this, 
however,  when  a  venomous  serpent,  which  had  probably  been 
lying  torpid  among  the  brushwood,  but  was  roused  into  en- 
ergy by  the  heat,  leaped  up  and  fastened  on  his  hand.  By 
this,  however,  he  was  not  disturbed,  for  he  quietly  shook  the 
reptile  off  into  the  fire,  and  felt  no  harm.  Here  was  a  clear 
miracle.  True,  it  is  not  said  in  so  many  words  that  he  was 
bitten,  and  that  he  was  kept  from  death  by  the  special  agen- 
cy of  God,  but  all  that  is  implied  in  the  condensed  narra- 
tive of  the  historian ;  and,  with  Dean  Alford,  we  can  only 
characterize  as  disingenuous  shifts  the  statements  of  ration- 
alists and  semi-rationalists  who  will  have  us  to  believe  either 
that  the  reptile  did  not  bite  or  that  it  was  not  venomous.* 
There  can  be  no  doubt,  I  think,  that  Luke  brings  this  for- 
ward as  one  of  the  signs  and  wonders  by  which  Jesus  had 
promised  to  confirm  the  word  of  his  apostles,  and  as  fur- 
nishing a  specimen  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  Saviour's  assur- 
ance :  "  In  my  name  shall  they  cast  out  devils ;  they  shall 
speak  with  new  tongues  ;  they  shall  take  up  serpents  ;  and 
if  they  drink  any  deadly  thing,  it  shall  not  hurt  them ;  they 
shall  lay  hands  on  the  sick,  and  they  shall  recover."!  The 
natives  of  Malta  were  deeply  impressed  with  what  they  saw ; 
and  we  have  here  an  interesting  description  of  the  different 
phases  of  astonishment  through  which  they  passed,  and  the 
different  conclusions  at  which  they  arrived  as  they  looked 

*  Alford's  "Greek  Testament,"  in  loc.  t  Mark  xvi.,  17,  18. 


IMalta,  Puteoli,  and  Appii  Forum.  467 

on.  First,  they  supposed  that  Paul  must  have  been  a  sin- 
ner of  the  deepest  dye, most  probably  a  murderer;  and  that 
though  he  had  escaped  the  sea,  the  great  goddess  Justice 
would  not  suffer  him  to  live.  So  they  continued  to  watch 
him  intently,  expecting  every  moment  to  see  him  die,  but  to 
their  amazement,  after  a  great  while,  they  marked  no  change 
upon  him;  and  then  swinging  at  once  to  the  other  extreme, 
they  inferred  that  he  was  a  god. 

In  all  this  there  was  a  curious  mixture  of  truth  and  error, 
showing  us  into  what  mistakes  men  are  liable  to  fall  with- 
out the  rectifying  and  illuminating  influence  of  revelation. 
Clearly  there  was  in  the  minds  of  these  people  a  strong 
belief  in  the  great  principle  of  retribution.  The  word  ren- 
dered "vengeance"  rather  signifies  justice;  and  as  it  has 
the  article  before  it,  we  most  naturally  read  it  as  a  proper 
name,  and  refer  it  to  the  goddess,  so  called,  of  Justice,  whose 
special  office,  in  the  ancient  mythology,  was  to  visit  iniquity 
with  righteous  retribution.  Now,  though  there  was  in  this 
manner  of  speech  all  the  corruption  of  idolatry,  and  though 
there  had  been  nothing  in  Paul  to  make  their  words  in  any 
degree  appropriate  to  him,  yet  do  not  fail  to  observe  that 
there  was  a  clear  acknowledgment  of  the  truth  that  wrong- 
doing ought  to  be  punished,  and  that,  in  the  world  generally, 
it  does  meet  with  its  requital.  In  other  words,  they  recog- 
nized the  moral  element  in  the  government  of  the  world. 
This  is  an  important  fact,  as  furnishing  evidence  that  even 
the  uninstructed  human  conscience  does  intuitively  assent 
to  the  doctrines  of  responsibility  and  retribution. 

But  with  that  substratum  of  truth  there  was  mingled  the 
error  that  special  calamity  invariably  indicates  special  guilt. 
Nor  need  we  wonder  at  the  existence  of  this  mistake  among 
them  when  we  find  it  among  others  who  apparently  possess- 
ed far  higher  advantages.  Thus,  the  friends  of  Job  took  up 
the  same  position  in  their  debate  with  him ;  the  Jews  who 


468  Paul  the  Missionary. 

came  to  Jesus  telling  him  of  those  whose  blood  Pilate  min- 
gled with  their  sacrifices  held,  apparently,  the  same  view ; 
and  even  the  disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus  seem  to  have  been 
tainted  with  the  same  heresy,  when  they  asked  concerning 
the  blind  man,  "  Master,  who  did  sin,  this  man,  or  his  par- 
ents, that  he  was  born  blind  ?"  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore, 
that  these  Maltese  heathens  should  have  fallen  into  this  er- 
ror. But  let  us  be  warned  by  their  mistake.  We  must  not 
judge  the  character  of  others  from  the  sufferings  through 
which  they  are  called  to  pass.  God  has  more  purposes  than 
one  for  the  affliction  of  his  people  to  subserve,  and  it 
may  be  that  he  designs  to  show  his  own  glory  through  them 
rather  than  to  mark  his  displeasure  at  any  special  guilt. 
Thus  it  was  in  Job's  case.  There,  as  here,  the  serpent  fast- 
ened on  the  man  of  God,  and  sought  to  poison  him  v/ith 
his  venom,  so  that  he  should  curse  God  and  die ;  but  the 
saint  with  quiet  patience  shook  him  off  and  felt  no  harm. 
We  must  not  condemn  a  man,  therefore,  because  he  seems 
to  be  peculiarly  afflicted.  If  Paul  v/as  on  that  ground  once 
taken  for  a  murderer,  we  may  sometimes  falsely  reckon  a 
humble  saint  to  be  a  godless  hypocrite. 

From  one  extreme  the  heathens  ran  to  another;  so  that  he 
whom  they  viewed  as  a  murderer  they  regarded  a  short  time 
'after  as  a  god.  Here,  again,  there  was  a  mixture  of  truth 
and  error.  There  was  truth  in  their  belief  that  a  miracle 
had  been  performed,  and  that  the  direct  agency  of  God  had 
been  at  work ;  but  there  was  error  in  the  conclusion  which 
they  drew,  to  the  effect  that  Paul  himself  was  a  god.  The 
truth  had  its  root  in  the  intuitive  tendency  of  the  human 
mind  to  find  an  adequate  cause  for  every  effect ;  the  error 
arose  from  the  corrupting  mythology  of  their  heathen  faith, 
which  taught  that  the  gods  v/e-re  men  exalted,  and,  so  to  say, 
exaggerated  and  intensified.  The  great  attribute  of  God- 
head, in  their  view,  was  power ;  and  men  who  showed  that 


Malta,  Puteoli,  and  Appii  Forum.  469 

in  any  marked  degree  were  deified.  Still,  in  rejecting  the 
error  which  they  held,  let  us  give  prominence  to  the  truth 
which  they  acknowledged.  Their  error  was  the  exaggera- 
tion and  distortion  of  a  truth ;  for  though  they  were  wrong 
in  accounting  Paul  a  god,  they  were  right  in  ascribing  to 
divine  agency  his  preservation  from  death,  and  herein  they 
were  greatly  in  advance  of  those  modern  writers  who,  hav- 
ing refined  away  the  personality  of  God  into  a  dreamy  pan- 
theism, deny  the  possibility  of  miracles,  and  sneer  at  all  be- 
lief in  them  as  credulity  or  superstition.  We  must  not  fol- 
low these  Maltese  into  either  of  the  extremes  into  which 
they  ran,  but  we  are  bound  to  recognize  the  element  of 
truth  which  there  was  in  both,  all  the  more  that  in  these 
days  both  have  been  elaborately  repudiated  by  philosophers, 
who,  in  their  devotion  to  scientific  pursuits  without  them, 
have  neglected  the  intuitions  of  the  mind  within  them. 

But  this  incident  of  the  viper  was  not  the  only  miracle 
connected  with  Paul's  sojourn  in  Malta.  In  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  spot  where  the  shipwreck  occurred  the  chief 
man  or  governor  of  the  island  lived.  Under  the  empire, 
Malta  was  an  appanage  to  the  province  of  Sicily,  and  was 
governed  by  a  lieutenant  appointed  by  the  Sicilian  praetor. 
This  official,  as  appears  not  only  from  the  words  of  Luke 
here,  but  also  from  certain  inscriptions  which  have  been 
discovered  in  the  island,  had  the  title  of  "  the  first  of  the 
Maltese."  At  the  time  of  the  apostle's  shipwreck,  the  gov- 
ernor was  one  Publius,  "  who  courteously  entreated  "  some 
of  the  sufferers,  and  lodged  them  in  his  own  house  for  three 
days.  In  so  doing  he  "  entertained"  at  least  one  "  angel  un- 
awares," and  discovered  the  quality  of  his  guest  only  when, 
by  prayer  and  the  laying  on  of  his  hands,  Paul  raised  up  his 
father  from  a  severe  and  dangerous  attack  of  dysentery. 

Such  a  work,  not  only  from  its  miraculous  character,  but 
also  from  the  exalted  station  of  him  v/ho  was  cured  by  it, 


470  Paul  the  Missionary. 

would  soon  be  noised  abroad  among  the  j^eople,  and  as  a 
natural  consequence  "  others  also,  which  had  diseases  in  the 
island,  came,  and  were  healed."  We  do  not  read  that  the 
apostle  preached  the  Gospel  here,  but  we  may  be  sure  that 
he  embraced  every  opportunity  of  commending  the  Lord 
Jesus  to  his  fellow -men  as  their  Saviour  and  guide;  and 
that  he  did  so  with  great  success  we  may  conclude  from  the 
fact  that,  when  he  and  his  fellow-voyagers  left  the  island, 
the  inhabitants  loaded  them  with  gifts. 

For  three  months  Paul  sojourned  in  this  place ;  and  as 
the  shipwreck  occurred  shortly  after  the  autumnal  equinox, 
we  may  infer  that  he  left  it  about  the  month  of  January  fol- 
lowing. A  corn-ship  from  Alexandria,  whose  sign  was  Cas- 
tor and  Pollux — favorite  deities  with  sailors — had  spent  the 
winter  in  the  harbor  of  the  island;  and  in  it  accommoda- 
tion was  found  for  the  shipwrecked  passengers  and  crew. 
Setting  out  from  the  port,  they  sailed  northward,  along  the 
coast  of  Sicily,  calling  at  Syracuse,  where  they  spent  three 
days,  and  where,  as  there  were  many  Jews  residing  in  the 
city,  Paul  perhaps  contrived  to  say  something  concerning 
the  Gospel  to  his  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh.  Thence, 
tacking,  that  they  might  make  the  most  of  an  unfavorable 
wind,  they  came  to  Rhegium,  on  the  Italian  coast.  There 
they  remained  for  one  day,  and  then,  catching  a  southern 
breeze,  they  set  sail  again,  making  the  harbor  of  Puteoli 
within  twenty-four  hours. 

This  place  was  situated  in  the  northern  part  of  that  bay 
(of  Naples)  which  is  perhaps  the  most  celebrated  in  the 
world.  It  was  the  haven  into  which  all  the  Alexandrian 
corn-ships  put,  and  was  one  of  the  most  important  harbors 
of  ancient  Italy.  From  the  particulars  furnished  by  classi- 
cal writers,  we  may  form  a  tolerably  accurate  idea  of  the 
animated  scene  which  marked  the  arrival  of  Paul  and  his 
companions. 


Malta,  Puteoli,  and  Appii  Forum.  471 

Rounding  the  promontory  of  Minerva,  and  keeping  on 
the  left  the  island  of  Caprese — still  loathsome  from  its  asso- 
ciation with  the  impurities  and  cruelties  of  Tiberius — the 
full  sweep  of  the  magnificent  bay  would  open  up  to  the  de- 
lighted gaze  of  the  apostle.  There  in  the  very  centre  of  the 
picture  rose  Vesuvius — not  as  we  know  it  now,  surmounted 
with  its  pillar  of  smoke  by  day  and  fire  by  night,  but  cov- 
ered to  its  very  summit  with  vineyards ;  while  at  its  base  to 
the  right  stretched  away  the  beautiful  streets  of  Pompeii, 
and  to  the  left  rose  the  proud  villas  of  Herculaneum.  Who 
could  then  have  foreseen  that  within  a  few  years  that  moun- 
tain of  beauty  would  burst  forth  with  the  desolating  fury  of 
a  mad  volcano,  and  bury  those  queenly  cities  beneath  a  heap 
of  ashes !  Farther  along,  beyond  Herculaneum,  and  in  a 
beautiful  bend  of  the  coast,  was  Neapolis,  now  Naples ; 
then  beyond,  in  another  minor  bay,  separated  from  Naples 
by  a  small  headland,  now  called  Posilippo,  was  Puteoli ; 
then,  on  the  opposite  side  of  this  little  bay,  was  Baiai — the 
watering-place  of  Rome,  combining  in  itself  the  medicinal 
springs  of  Saratoga  with  the  maritime  advantages  of  New- 
port ;  while  still  farther  along  was  Cape  Misenum,  with  the 
imperial  fleet  riding  at  anchor  beside  it,  v/aiting  the  orders 
of  its  admiral. 

At  Puteoli  an  immense  pier  or  mole  had  been  erected, 
consisting  of  twenty- five  arches,  of  which  the  ruins  of  thir- 
teen yet  remain ;  and  along-side  of  this  the  vessels  came  to 
discharge  their  passengers  and  cargo.  On  this  pier,  too, 
great  crowds  commonly  assembled  at  the  arrival  of  these 
Egyptian  vessels.  Seneca,  in  one  of  his  letters,  has  given  a 
vivid  description  of  the  scene.  Thus  he  writes  :  "  Sudden- 
ly to-day  Alexandrian  vessels,  which  are  wont  to  be  sent 
forward  to  herald  the  arrival  of  a  fleet,  appeared.  They 
call  them  letter-carriers  or  packets,  and  the  sight  of  them  is 
welcome  to  all  Campania.     All  the  crowd  collects  upon  the 


472  Paul  the  Missionary. 

mole  of  Puteoli  and  recognizes  Alexandrian  corn -vessels 
from  a  whole  fleet  of  others  by  their  sails — for  they  alone 
are  permitted  to  enter  the  harbor  with  their  top-sail  set.  So 
soon  as  they  come  between  Capreae  and  the  promontory  of 
Minerva  others  are  ordered  to  be  content  with  the  lower 
sail ;  the  top-sail  is  the  mark  of  an  Alexandrian  ship;"*  and 
then  he  goes  on  to  tell  of  the  multitude  hurrying  to  the  har- 
bor, of  their  discourse  by  the  way,  and  his  own  reflections 
thereon.  Now,  it  was  most  likely  into  the  midst  of  such  a 
throng  that  Paul  first  stepped  when  he  landed  on  Italian 
soil,  his  prisoner's  chain  clanking  the  while  at  his  hand, 
and  his  heart  throbbing  with  emotion  at  the  thought  that 
at  length  he  was  to  enter  Rome. 

At  Puteoli  they  remained  seven  days,  probably  while  Ju- 
lius sent  on  his  despatches  to  the  capital,  and  v/aited  for 
orders  from  head-quarters ;  and  during  this  interval  Paul 
had  pleasant  fellowship  with  the  Christians  whom  he  found 
there.  Then  setting  forth  for  Rome,  he  went  first  along  the 
Campanian  road  to  Capua,  and  thence  along  the  famous  Ap- 
pian  Way  until  he  came  to  Appii  Forum.  This  was  a  town 
at  the  Roman  extremity  of  the  canal  which  had  been  formed 
across  the  Pontine  marshes,  and  which  ran  almost  parallel 
with  the  road,  so  that  travellers  had  their  choice  whether  to 
go  by  the  ordinary  vehicles  or  by  the  track-boat.  We  can- 
not tell  how  the  apostle  did ;  but  it  was  at  Appii  Forum 
that  the  barge  was  left  for  the  road  by  those  who  were  go- 
ing to  the  city,  and  the  place  was  therefore  very  rough  and 
disagreeable.  Horace,  in  his  humorous  account  of  his  jour- 
ney to  Brindusium,  speaks  of  it  as  '' crammed  with  barge- 
men and  knavish  innkeepers."  So  in  itself  it  could  have 
little  interest  for  Paul;  but  it  was  then,  and  would  be  ever 
afterward,  to    him   a   spot   of   endearment,  because   there, 

*  Seneca,  "  Epis.,"  77,  quoted  in  Latin  by  both  Le\Yin  and  Howson. 


MOLE    OF    PUTEOLI. 


Malta,  Puteoli,  and  Appii  Forum.  473 

forty- three  miles  from  their  home,  certain  Christians  had 
come  from  Rome  to  meet  him.  Nor  was  this  all.  At  the 
next  stage  in  his  journey,  at  a  place  called  the  Three  Tav- 
erns, ten  miles  nearer  the  city,  he  found  others  awaiting  him, 
and  the  effect  on  his  mind  was  of  the  most  cheering  descrip- 
tion. We  know  not  who  these  brethren  were.  Perhaps 
Aquila  was  there,  and  Epenetus,  and  Andronicus,  and  Am- 
plias,  and  Urbane,  and  Stachys,  and  Apelles,  and  Hero- 
dion,  his  kinsmen,  and  others  whose  names  are  given  in  the 
chapter  of  Salutations  to  the  Church  at  Rome.  We  cannot 
tell ;  but  whoever  they  were,  their  names  are  in  the  Book 
of  Life,  and  they  will  be  remembered  in  the  day  when  a  cup 
of  cold  water  given  to  a  disciple  in  the  name  of  a  disciple 
shall  in  no  wise  lose  its  reward.  For,  indeed,  as  cold  water 
to  a  thirsty  soul,  so  were  the  salutations  of  these  brethren 
to  the  apostle  now.  After  many  perils  and  long  delays,  he 
had  set  his  foot  on  the  Italian  shore.  Now  at  length  he 
was  to  enter  that  city  toward  which  for  so  many  years  his 
eyes  had  turned  with  earnest  longing ;  but  alas !  he  was  to 
enter  it  as  a  prisoner,  and  he  did  not  know  in  what  light  the 
brethren  of  the  Roman  Church  might  regard  him  when  they 
beheld  his  chain.  Hence  we  may  not  wonder  if,  human 
as  he  was,  his  heart  Vv^as  oppressed  with  suspense,  and  his 
spirit  darkened  by  the  shadow  which  seemed  to  overhang 
the  future.  But  "  God,  that  comforteth  those  who  are  cast 
down,"  comforted  him  by  the  coming  of  these  brethren. 
The  sight  of  them  was  to  him  almost  as  if  Jesus  himself 
had  again  appeared  to  him.  The  friendship  of  the  dis- 
ciples, valuable  in  itself,  was  doubly  prized,  as  assuring  him 
of  the  presence  and  the  help  of  the  Master.  It  was  like  the 
breaking  of  a  rift  in  the  cloud,  through  which  sunshine  came 
streaming  down  upon  his  head.  The  weight  was  lifted  from 
his  heart, the  shadow  was  taken  from  his  path;  and, prisoner 
though  he  was,  he  went  forward  with  a  firmer  step  and  with 


474  Paul  the  Missionary. 

a  stronger  trust.  It  was  one  of  those  times  when  a  man 
feels  himself  standing  as  it  were  on  some  narrow  isthmus, 
with  the  past  on  one  side  and  the  future  on  the  other,  and 
has  fully  before  him  all  that  both  involve.  Away  behind 
him  were  those  manifold  experiences  through  which  Christ 
had  led  him,  from  that  eventful  day  when  he  was  blinded 
by  the  heavenly  light  on  the  way  to  Damascus.  His  mis- 
sionary journeys,  his  perils  more  recently  at  Ephesus  and 
Jerusalem,  his  long  imprisonment  at  Caesarea,  his  voyage 
and  shipwreck — all  were  vividly  recalled  to  him  by  the  com- 
ing of  these  friends,  and  were  so  irradiated  by  the  sunshine 
which  they  brought  that  his  heart  brimmed  over  with  grati- 
tude and  he  "  thanked  God."  Then  before  him  lay  the  fut- 
ure— his  entrance  into  Rome,  his  uncertainty  as  to  the  field 
which  might  open  to  him  there,  the  possibility  that  his  ap- 
peal might  not  be  sustained,  and  that  he  might  be  condemn- 
ed to  die,  the  certain  danger  of  the  great  enterprise  in  which 
he  was  engaged,  and  the  probability  that  Nero  might  some- 
how cut  short  his  career — all  v/ere  set  in  array  before  him — 
yet  such  was  the  influence  on  him  of  the  kindness  of  these 
friends,  that  the  bitterness  was  taken  out  of  them  all;  for 
it  assured  him  that  God  was  with  him.  So  "  he  took  cour- 
age," and  said  again,  with  perhaps  stronger  emphasis  than 
before,  "  As  much  as  in  me  is,  I  am  ready  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  you  that  are  at  Rome  also.  For  I  am  not 
ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ:  for  it  is  the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth ;  to  the  Jew  first, 
and  also  to  the  Greek." 

Leaving  the  apostle  to  enjoy  the  Christian  fellowship  of 
these  brethren,  let  us  as  usual  glean  a  few  lessons  from  the 
theme  of  our  exposition. 

See  here,  then,  in  the  first  place,  how  royally  God  repays 
kindness  to  his  servants.  Publius  received  Paul  and  his 
companions  heartily,  and  lodged  them  courteously  for  three 


Malta,  Puteoli,  and  Appii  Forum.  475 

clays;  and,  as  a  return,  his  father  was  healed  of  a  danger- 
ous disease.  The  people  of  the  island  generally  showed  no 
little  kindness  to  the  shipv/recked  voyagers,  and  so  "  others 
also  which  had  diseases  came  and  were  healed."  God  never 
leaves  unacknowledged  the  deeds  of  beneficence  which  are 
done  to  his  people.  If  Rahab  entertains  the  spies,  her  life 
and  the  lives  of  all  her  kinsmen  are  preserved  amid  the  de- 
struction of  Jericho.  If  the  "great  woman"  of  Shunem  pre- 
pares a  table  for  Elisha,  God  lays  a  little  one  in  her  bosom, 
and  when  he  is  stricken  down  in  death  restores  him  to  her 
arms.  If  the  Master  borrows  Peter's  boat  to  make  it  a 
temporary  pulpit,  he  shows  his  appreciation  of  the  favor  by 
giving  the  large  draught  of  fishes ;  and  if  he  finds  a  home 
in  the  abode  of  Martha  and  Mary,  he  gives  his  reward  in 
the  resurrection  of  Lazarus.  It  would  be  mercenary  in  us 
to  offer  our  gifts  out  of  regard  to  these  or  similar  returns  j 
but  it  would  be  ungrateful  in  us  when  such  returns  are 
made  not  to  recognize  and  acknowledge  them.  No  man  is 
ever  a  loser  in  the  long-run  by  what  he  does  for  Christ  and 
his  servants.  Everything  we  offer  to  him  comes  back  to 
us  in  one  form  or  another  with  added  interest  of  blessing. 
If  it  do  not  come  in  the  shape  of  temporal  mercy,  it  will 
surely  appear  in  richer  measure  of  that  grace  by  which  the 
roots  of  our  spiritual  life  are  "  mellowed  and  fed,"  and  we 
are  strengthened  for  the  day  that  is  upon  us.  Let  us,  there- 
fore, always  esteem  it  as  a  privilege  when  we  are  called  to 
do  anything  for  the  Lord,  or  to  receive  a  disciple  in  the 
name  of  a  disciple ;  for  when  we  do  that  we  entertain  not 
an  angel  only,  but  the  Lord  himself,  since  he  hath  said, "  He 
that  receiveth  you,  receiveth  me  ;  and  he  that  receiveth  me, 
receiveth  him  that  sent  me.  And  whosoever  shall  give  to 
drink  unto  one  of  these  little  ones,  a  cup  of  cold  water  only 
in  the  name  of  a  disciple,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  he  shall  in 
no  wise  lose  his  reward." 


476  Paul  tpie  Missionary. 

Mark,  in  the  second  place,  how  singularly  God  works  out 
the  purposes  of  his  providence,  and  fulfils  the  desires  of  his 
servants.  "  So  we  went  toward  Rome."  This  was  the  ac- 
complishment of  a  long-cherished  design  on  the  part  of  the 
apostle.  From  an  early  date  in  his  ministry  his  heart  had 
been  set  on  visiting  the  imperial  city.  Three  years  before 
he  set  foot  on  the  mole  at  Puteoli,  when  he  was  writing  to 
the  Romans  from  Corinth,  he  could  say  that  "  he  had  a 
great  desire  these  many  years  to  come  unto  him  ;"  that 
"oftentimes  he  had  purposed  to  visit  them,  and  that  the 
longing  of  his  spirit  had  expressed  itself  in  habitual  prayer 
that  he  might  have  a  prosperous  journey  unto  them."  It 
was  not  that  he  had  a  mere  curiosity  to  look  upon  the  great 
metropolis,  or  gaze  upon  the  faces  of  its  prominent  men. 
But  his  ambition  was  that  he  might  comfort  and  strengthen 
the  little  company  of  believers  in  Jesus  who  had  establish- 
ed themselves  there,  and  that  through  them  and  with  them 
he  might  work  upon  that  great  centre  of  influence,  so.  that 
at  length  the  Word  of  Life  might  radiate  from  it  in  every 
direction.  He  knev/  that  from  the  golden  mile-stone  in  its 
Forum  highways  ran  to  the  utmost  borders  of  the  empire  on 
every  side.  He  was  aware  that  the  statesmen  in  its  senate 
were  the  men  who  as  praetors  and  proconsuls  would  be  sent 
out  in  course  of  years  to  guide  the  affairs  of  the  most  dis- 
tant provinces.  He  had  seen  the  soldiers  of  the  Italian 
legions  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem;  and  he  felt  that  he 
might  meet  at  Rome  men  who  might  carry  the  seed  of  the 
Gospel  with  them  to  Britain  on  the  west,  or  to  Parthia  on 
the  east.  So  he  desired  to  preach  the  Gospel  there.  This 
was  the  root  of  his  longing  to  visit  the  imperial  city.  He 
sought  nothing  for  himself,  but  he  was  eager  to  take  the  en- 
tire world  for  Christ ;  and  as  the  nearest  way  to  that  he 
wished  to  establish  himself  in  the  metropolis. 

And  yet  I  scarcely  think  that  when  he  formed  that  pur- 


Malta,  Puteoli,  and  Appii  Forum.  477 

pose  he  imagined  that  he  should  go  thither  as  a  prisoner. 
But  so  it  was.  When  he  went  at  last  he  went  in  a  situ- 
ation which,  humanly  speaking,  seemed  to  render  it  impos- 
sible to  do  anything  very  effective  for  the  cause  to  which 
he  had  devoted  his  life.  Strangely  enough,  however,  as  we 
shall  see  in  our  next  lecture,  he  was  constrained  to  say  that 
his  very  bonds  had  fallen  out  to  the  furtherance  of  the  Gos- 
pel ;  and  by  using  his  opportunity,  such  as  it  was,  he  intro- 
duced the  leaven  of  the  Gospel  into  the  two  least  likely 
places  in  the  city  for  its  reception,  namely,  the  palace  of  the 
Csesars  and  the  guard-room  of  the  pretorian  troops. 

Now,  there  is  much  in  all  this  to  comfort  and  sustain  us 
in  our  work  for  Christ.  I  may  not  say,  indeed,  that  every 
purpose  which  we  form  is  as  sure  of  being  carried  out  by  us 
as  this  darling  object  of  Paul's  desire  was  realized  by  him. 
God  has  nowhere  promised  us  anything  of  that  kind ;  and 
if  we  are  anxious  for  our  own  honor  or  our  own  advan- 
tage we  shall  very  likely  be  disappointed.  But  if  our  long- 
ing is  for  usefulness,  and  if  like  our  apostle  we  are  always 
careful  not  to  let  our  hope  of  doing  great  things  in  the  fut- 
ure keep  us  from  doing  the  little  things  which  are  possible 
in  the  present,  I  think  that  we  may  cherish  the  assurance 
that  in  the  end  he  will  give  us  our  heart's  desire.  In  this 
matter  of  usefulness  God  has  encouraged  us  both  to  attempt 
great  things  and  to  expect  great  things.  He  has  shown  us 
the  little  grain  of  mustard-seed  springing  up  into  a  tree,  on 
whose  branches  the  birds  may  sit  and  sing.  He  has  let  us 
see  the  leaven  hid  in  the  meal  working  its  way  out  until  the 
whole  is  leavened.  And  by  his  own  miracle  on  the  moun- 
tain-side he  has  prompted  us  to  bring  to  him  our  few  loaves 
and  tiny  fishes,  that  he  may  multiply  them  to  the  feeding 
of  thousands.  It  may  be  long,  indeed,  before  we  reach  the 
point  at  which  we  aim.  Years  may  intervene  between  the 
formation   of  the   purpose    and  its    accomplishment;    and 


478  Paul  the  Missionary. 

things  may  occur  to  imprison  us  and  keep  us  from  its  at- 
tainment j  but  let  us  lose  neither  heart  nor  hope,  and  in  the 
end  God  will  be  glorified  by  our  success.  As  I  muse  on 
this  subject  I  think  of  Wilberforce  and  Clarkson,  laboring 
on  in  the  face  of  obstacles  of  every  sort  till  slavery  v/as 
doomed.  I  think  of  Carey,  waiting  and  working  in  the 
teeth  of  bitter  opposition  until  he  set  his  foot  on  India's 
"coral  strand."  I  think  of  Henderson,  toiling  on  through 
poverty  and  discouragement  for  years,  until  he  became  the 
very  ideal  of  a  medical  missionary.  Take  heart,  then,  my 
brother :  he  who  has  put  the  purpose  within  you,  and  ripen- 
ed it  until  it  has  become  an  habitual  prayer,  has  given  you 
therein  the  prophecy  of  your  success.  No  matter  what  may 
be  the  Rome  on  which  you  have  set  your  desire,  if  it  be 
but  to  bless  and  benefit  your  fellows  and  to  honor  Christ, 
be  sure  that  for  you,  too,  there  will  come  a  day  when  you 
will  be  able  to  sympathize  with  Luke  and  Paul  when  they 
said,  "  So  we  went  toward  Rome." 

But  it  may  not  come  just  as  you  expect  it  now.  You  may 
get  something  with  it  of  which  at  first  you  had  not  dreamed, 
and  that  something  will  be  of  a  kind  to  humble  you,  and 
send  you  back  v/ith  absolute  and  entire  dependence  upon 
God.  When  you  reach  the  goal  you  may  find  that  in  some 
way  you  are,  like  Paul,  a  prisoner.  But  if  you  make  a  right 
use  of  your  bonds  they  will  even  increase  your  usefulness ; 
for  it  is  through  such  things  that  God  fits  us  for  doing  ser- 
vice when  we  come  to  our  proper  sphere.  Take  them,  then, 
not  as  discouragements  but  as  preparatives.  Carry  them  to 
God  in  prayer,  and  he  will  transmute  them  into  the  instru- 
ments of  your  after-power.  They  are,  rightly  improved,  the 
forerunners  of  success,  and  not  its  foes.  So  when  you  come 
to  your  sphere  and  find  yourself,  like  Paul,  bound  by  some 
chain,  do  not  be  cast  down.  That  also  is  part  of  the  divine 
plan   regarding  you.      Think  not  that  the  opportunity  is 


Malta,  Puteoli,  and  Appii  Forum.  479 

worth  nothing  because  you  come  to  it  as  a  prisoner.  The 
restraint  itself,  as  you  will  by-and-by  see,  is  a  part  of  your 
opportunity ;  and  if  you  use  it  rightly,  God  will  make  even 
your  bonds  turn  out  to  the  furtherance  of  his  cause. 

Finally,  see  how  much  a  little  kindness  may  do  in  the 
strengthening  and  encouragement  of  a  good  man.  Was  it 
not  worth  more  than  the  forty  miles'  journey  which  these 
brethren  took  to  be  the  means  of  so  cheering  the  venerable 
apostle  ?  And  is  there  not  much  in  the  conduct  of  these 
Roman  believers  to  instruct  and  benefit  us  ?  A  kindly  word 
spoken  or  a  benevolent  act  done  to  a  disciple  will  frequent- 
ly inspirit  and  revive  a  timid  and  desponding  heart;  and 
nothing  so  tends  to  uplift  the  soul  of  the  minister,  or  so 
gives  him  elasticity  and  energy  for  labor,  as  the  manifesta- 
tion by  his  people  of  interest  in  his  work  and  attachment  to 
himself.  His  sphere  is  pre-eminently  that  of  affection ;  if  he 
do  not  get  his  people's  love,  he  gets  nothing  that  is  worth 
possessing;  but  every  indication  which  they  give  of  kind 
consideration  for  his  welfare,  gilds  for  him  the  past  with, 
glory,  and  fills  the  future  with  hope.  The  weariness  falls  off 
his  spirit,  his  labor  becomes  less  a  work  and  more  a  joy, 
because  the  love  of  his  people  is  to  him  the  foretaste  and 
earnest  of  his  Master's  affection,  in  that  coming  day,  when 
he  shall  hear  those  words  which  shall  overpay  him  for  all 
his  efforts:  "Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  enter 
thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord."  It  was  a  little  thing  these 
believers  did,  when  looked  at  from  their  point  of  view ;  but 
it  was  a  great  thing  to  Paul,  and  a  great  thing  also  to  Paul's 
Lord.  Oh,  how  much  sunshine  we  might  throw  around  us  ! 
how  many  souls  we  might  fill  with  gratitude  !  how  many 
hearts  we  might  tone  up  to  courage  by  little  attentions ! 
They  are  so  little  that  we  think  them  scarcely  worth  be- 
stowing; yet  the  sunshine  is  composed  of  single  rays,  and 
the  rain  falls  out  in  single  drops,  and  what  a  mighty  result 


480  Paul  the  Missionary. 

does  their  amalgamation  produce  !  Be  ye,  therefore,  "  kind- 
ly affectioned  one  toward  another ;"  come  out  of  your  re- 
serve ;  salute  each  other  with  the  cordial  greeting  of  Chris- 
tian brotherhood ;  show  kindness ;  go  about  doing  good.  It 
may  be  that  your  love  shall  be  to  some  devoted  Christian 
what  the  meeting  of  these  believers  was  to  Paul;  and  you 
may  hear  of  it  again  when  the  Master  says,  "  Inasmuch  as 
ye  did  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did 
it  unto  me." 


XXVI. 

ROME. 

Acts  xxviii.,  15-31. 

I  ATTEMPT  no  description  of  the  panorama  which  lay 
before  the  eyes  of  Paul  when  first  he  looked  on  Rome. 
It  may  be  well,  however,  to  set  a  few  things  distinctly  be- 
fore you,  in  order  that  you  may  be  the  better  able  to  under- 
stand the  surroundings  in  the  midst  of  which  the  apostle 
found  himself  during  his  first  residence  as  a  prisoner  under 
the  shadow  of  the  imperial  palace. 

At  this  date — the  spring  of  the  year  a.d.  61 — Rome  was 
very  much  as  it  had  been  left  by  Augustus ;  for  the  fire, 
which  during  the  reign  of  Nero  furnished  the  opportunity 
for  reconstructing  the  city,  had  not  yet  occurred.  It  had 
long  outgrown  its  mural  limits,  and  must  be  conceived  of  as 
a  huge,  irregular  agglomeration  of  buildings  which  covered 
an  immense  area,  having  a  circuit  of  twelve  miles.  One 
could  hardly  tell,  as  he  journeyed  toward  it,  where  the  coun- 
try ended  and  the  city  began.  From  a  distance  its  appear- 
ance was  not  very  imposing ;  for  there  was  little  either  in 
its  site  or  in  its  edifices  to  call  forth  admiration.  We  read 
much,  indeed,  about  its  seven  hills,  but  these  were  neither 
lofty  nor  attractive  at  first ;  and  when  covered,  as  they  ulti- 
mately were,  with  streets,  they  would  be  as  little  thought  of 
as  the  hills  of  London,  concerning  which  it  may  be  said 
that,  but  for  the  names  which  the  localities  bear,  one  would 
scarcely  recognize  that  there  was  any  elevation  about  them. 
Then,  as  to  the  buildings — though  it  must  be  admitted  that 


482       ,  Paul  the  Missionary. 

there  were  among  the  temples  some  splendid  specimens  of 
architecture — it  must  not  be  forgotten  that,  as  Howson  has 
said,  "there  was  neither  dome  nor  campanile,"  and  there 
was  an  entire  absence  of  "  those  spires  which  give  life  to  all 
the  landscapes  of  Northern  Christendom."*  There  were 
throughout  the  city  many  open  spaces,  like  the  Forum ; 
and  the  Campus  Martius — a  beautiful  plain  stretching  along 
the  bank  of  the  Tiber,  and  now  forming  a  part  of  the  site 
of  the  modern  city — was  then  just  beginning  to  be  fringed 
with  the  villas  of  the  more  wealthy  citizens.  But  the  streets 
generally  were  narrow  and  winding,  and  were  frequently 
lined  on  both  sides  by  densely -crowded  lodging-houses 
(called  insulas),  which  rose  to  a  great  height,  and  may  be 
compared  to  our  own  lofty  tenement-houses,  or  those  many- 
storied  "  lands  "  which  make  so  remarkable  a  feature  in  the 
old  town  of  Edinburgh.  The  population  at  this  date  has 
been  variously  estimated  by  historians,  but  may  be  safely 
put  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  million  and  a  half.  Of  these 
perhaps  one -half  were  slaves  ;  and  of  the  remainder  the 
larger  proportion  was  composed  of  "  pauper  citizens,  sup- 
ported in  idleness  by  the  miserable  system  of  public  gratu- 
ities."t  There  seems  to  have  been  no  middle  class  com- 
posed of  free,  industrious  artisans.  All  the  trades  were 
given  over  to  the  slaves,  and  there  was  a  comparatively 
small  body  of  wealthy  patricians,  whose  luxury  and  profli- 
gacy have  been  held  up  to  scorn  by  the  satirists  of  their 
own  generation.  The  rest  of  the  people  "  hung  around  " 
as  loafers,  waiting  now  for  the  bread  of  public  charity,  and 
now  for  the  games  which  were  provided  for  them  at  the 
national  expense. $ 

The  emperor  was  Nero,  now  twenty -four  years  of  age, 


*  Vol.  ii.,  p.  371.  t  Smith's  "  Dictionary,"  stib  voce,  Rome. 

%  "Panem  et  Circenses." 


Rome.  483 

and  just  beginning  that  course  of  madness  and  cruelty 
which  has  made  posterity  alternately  laugh  at  him  as  a  fool 
and  abhor  him  as  a  tyrant.  His  name  originally  was  Lu- 
cius Domitius  Ahenobarbus,  and  he  was  the  son  of  Domi- 
tius  Ahenobarbus  and  Agrippina.  On  the  marriage  of  his 
mother  to  the  Emperor  Claudius,  he  was  adopted  by  that 
monarch,  and  his  name  was  changed  to  Nero  Claudius  Cae- 
sar Drusus  Germanicus.  He  was  educated  somewhat  care- 
fully by  the  philosopher  Seneca;  and  when  Claudius  was 
poisoned  by  Agrippina,  she  managed  at  the  same  time  to 
secure  the  throne  for  her  son,  whose  first  care  was  to  get 
rid  by  poison  of  Germanicus,  the  son  of  Claudius,  and  so 
put  out  of  the  way  the  rival  who  might  dispute  his  right  to 
the  purple.  For  a  few  years  he  managed  affairs  with  some 
discretion,  under  the  advice  of  his  tutor  Seneca  and  his  pre- 
fect Burrus ;  but  in  the  year  59  he  contrived  the  murder  of 
his  mother  Agrippina,  and  from  that  time  forward  the  rec- 
ord of  his  reign  consists  mainly  of  a  catalogue  of  follies, 
cruelties,  and  vices.  After  divorcing  and  putting  to  death 
Octavia,  his  wife,  he  formed  an  alliance  with  the  worthless 
Poppaea,  a  vile  woman,  who  tried  to  hide  her  enormities  un- 
der a  veil  of  piety,  which  took  the  form  of  proselytism  to 
the  Jewish  faith.  Burrus,  his  faithful  servant,  died  broken- 
hearted ;  Seneca,  disgusted  with  the  licentiousness  of  the 
court,  quitted  the  capital ;  and  then,  unrestrained  by  any 
wholesome  advisers,  the  emperor  went  from  bad  to  worse, 
until  his  name  became  a  synonym  for  all  that  is  debasing 
and  unnatural.  He  is  a  fearful  illustration  of  that  ruin 
which  must  inevitably  ensue  when  a  man  without  moral 
principle  is  placed  in  an  irresponsible  position,  and  has 
command  of  all  the  resources  of  luxury  and  wealth  and 
power.  The  superficial  accomplishments  of  life  had  in  his 
estimation  taken  the  place  of  the  more  important  things  of 
character  and  morals.     He  was  more  ambitious  to  excel  in 


484  Paul  the  Missionary. 

driving  a  chariot,  or  to  obtain  the  applause  of  the  frequent- 
ers of  the  theatre  for  playing  on  a  guitar,  or  singing  a  song, 
than  he  was  to  study  the  welfare  of  the  people,  or  provide 
for  the  good  government  of  his  subjects.  He  could  criti- 
cise music,  painting,  and  sculpture  with  the  skill  of  a  con- 
noisseur, and  could  quote  largely,  appreciatively,  and  appro- 
priately from  the  poets.  Even  in  the  last  hours  of  his  life, 
as  one  has  said,  "  his  reflections  were  like  a  continuous  dis- 
charge of  classical  quotations,  mixed  with  heavy  pleasant- 
ries ;  for  every  circumstance  he  had  some  apt  literary  rem- 
iniscence, some  unmeaning  antithesis."*  He  frequented 
the  studios  of  his  time,  and  got  up  the  art  cant  of  his  day ; 
yet  so  little  did  this  culture  tend  to  produce  in  him  the 
"sweetness  and  light"  which  a  modern  author  assures  us 
are  its  constant  fruits,  that  he  did  not  scruple  to  commit 
the  most  heinous  crimes,  and  positively  revelled  in  the  per- 
petration of  the  most  abominable  cruelties,  and  in  the  in- 
dulgence of  the  most  degrading  passions.  To  serve  him 
with  a  fidelity  which  preferred  his  interests  to  his  inclina- 
tions was  the  sure  way  to  incur  his  vengeance ;  and  when 
it  suited  his  purpose  and  tended  to  divert  suspicion  from 
himself,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  accuse  the  inoffensive  Chris- 
tians of  having  set  Rome  on  fire.  Nor  did  he  consider  it 
improper  to  cover  over  their  bodies  with  pitch  and  set  them 
up  in  blazing  rows  along  the  walks  of  his  gardens  for  the 
amusement  of  the  multitude. 

Such  then  was  the  city  at  which,  after  the  longing  of 
years,  Paul  had  arrived ;  and  such  was  the  emperor  before 
whom  he  had  been  sent  to  prosecute  his  appeal.  As  he 
approached  the  metropolis  by  the  Appian  Way,  lined  with 
sepulchres  on  either  side,  he  would  enter  by  the  Porta  Ca- 

*  Kenan's  "  Antichrist,"  p.  309,  quoted  in  Edinburgh  Review  for  Oc- 
tober, 1874. 


Rome.  485 

pena,  at  the  foot  of  the  Coelian  Hill,  and  pass  below  the 
arch  which  was  always  dripping  with  water  percolating  from 
the  aqueduct  which  passed  over  it.  Thence  his  road  lay 
between  the  Ccelian  Mount  on  the  right  and  the  Palatine 
on  the  left,  over  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  Arch  of  Titus, 
and  down  the  Via  Sacra,  until  he  reached  the  golden  mile- 
stone at  the  head  of  the  Forum.  On  the  left  rose  the  im- 
perial palace,  and  close  to  that  was  the  barrack  of  the  pre- 
torian  guard,  where  Julius  probably  delivered  up  his  prison- 
ers to  the  prefect,  to  wait  their  trial  before  the  emperor.* 
The  prefect  into  whose  hands  Paul  was  given  is  generally 
identified  with  Burrus,  to  v/hom  I  have  already  referred ;  but 
whoever  he  was,  he  treated  the  apostle  with  great  leniency. 
Either  from  the  account  which  Festus  had  given  in  the  offi- 
cial papers — if  these  had  not  been  lost  in  the  shipwreck — 
or  from  the  good  report  given  by  the  centurion  who  had 
been  with  him  every  day  for  months,  the  mind  of  the  pre- 
fect seems  to  have  been  favorable  to  Paul,  for  he  allowed 
him  to  dwell  by  himself,  on  the  simple  condition  that  he 
should  always  be  chained  to  one  of  the  pretorian  guards. 
At  first  he  took  up  his  abode  in  a  lodging;  but  latterly, 
when  it  became  apparent  that  his  cause  was  to  be  delayed, 
he  hired  a  house  for  himself,  where  he  was  permitted  to  re- 
ceive all  that  came  unto  him. 

The  earliest  use  which  Paul  made  of  this  indulgence  was 
to  seek  an  interview  with  the  chief  men  of  the  Jews  at  Rome. 
And  here  let  me  say  in  a  parenthesis  that  there  had  been 
for  many  years  a  Jewish  colony  in  the  metropolis,  occupying 
a  particular  quarter  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Tiber  to 
that  which  was  covered  by  the  main  portion  of  the  city.  As 
early  as  the  year  B.C.  63,  after  the  conquest  of  Palestine  by 
Pompey,  several  thousands  of  Jews  had  been  sold  as  slaves 


*  See  Fairbairn's  "  Imperial  Bible  Dictionary,"  sub  voce,  Rome. 
21* 


486  Paul  the  Missionary. 

in  the  markets  of  Rome ;  but,  with  that  indomitable  energy 
which  has  always  characterized  the  children  of  Abraham  in 
foreign  lands,  they  had  speedily  risen  to  stations  of  influ- 
ence and  trust.  Meanwhile,  others  of  the  same  nationality, 
drawn  by  the  magnet  of  business,  had  gone  to  Rome  of  their 
own  accord,  and  plied  their  trades  with  industry  and  success. 
The  Jewish  portion  of  the  population  thus  consisted  of  two 
classes — namely,  slaves,  retainers,  or  clients  of  the  patrician 
households ;  and  artisans  or  tradesmen,  who  lived  in  their 
own  quarter,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Tiber.  For  some  rea- 
son or  other,  Julius  Caesar  showed  them  what  was,  for  him, 
unusual  kindness.  Augustus,  following  in  his  great  kins- 
man's footsteps,  allowed  them  the  free  exercise  of  their  re- 
ligion, and  permitted  them  to  take  their  share  with  the  citi- 
zens in  the  largesses  of  corn,  for  which,  if  the  distribution 
happened  to  be  made  on  their  Sabbath,  they  might  come  on 
the  following  day.  But,  in  spite  of  these  favors,  they  were 
regarded  as  a  turbulent  and  dangerous  element  of  the  pop- 
ulation ;  for  Tiberius  in  the  early  part  of  his  reign  banish- 
ed a  large  number  of  them  from  the  city,  though  in  his  later 
days  he  treated  them  more  leniently.  Claudius  also,  as  we 
have  seen,  banished  them  all  from  Italy  on  account  of  dis- 
putes among  them  regarding  the  Messiah;  but  that  decree 
could  not  have  been  long  in  force,  since  Aquila  and  Pris- 
cilla,  who  had  gone  to  Asia  in  consequence  of  it,  are  found 
in  Rome  again  at  a  date  three  years  before  the  arrival  of 
Paul.  We  need  not  be  surprised,  therefore,  at  finding  the 
Jews  again  a  numerous  and  prosperous  community  there. 

For  the  chief  men  of  this  section  of  the  population,  then 
— that  is,  as  I  judge,  for  the  rulers  and  elders  of  their  syna- 
gogues— Paul  sent,  that  he  might  inform  them  of  the  posi- 
tion in  which  he  stood,  and  disabuse  them  of  any  prejudices 
which  they  might  have  concerning  him.  He  told  them  that 
he  had  come  to  Rome  in  consequence   of  his  having  ap- 


Rome.  487 

pealed  to  the  emperor,  but  he  wished  them  to  understand 
that  he  had  taken  that  step  simply  as  a  matter  of  self- 
defence,  and  not  because  he  had  brought  any  accusation 
against  his  nation  or  its  rulers.  He  was  not  seeking  the 
punishment  of  any  one,  but  only  using  the  last  resource 
which  was  left  him  to  save  himself  from  injustice  or  vio- 
lence. He  could  assure  them  that  he  had  done  nothing 
against  his  people  or  the  customs  of  their  religion ;  and 
that  the  Roman  governors  by  whom  he  had  been  examined 
found  nothing  worthy  of  death  in  him.  The  truth  was  that 
the  Jews  spake  against  him  so  that,  in  order  to  preserve  him- 
self from  their  enmity,  he  was  constrained  to  appeal  to  the 
emperor;  and  the  reason  why  his  countrymen  were  so  bit- 
ter against  him  was,  that  he  had  allied  himself  to  those  who 
believed  that  the  hope  of  Israel  centred  in  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth as  the  Messiah  promised  to  the  fathers. 

To  this  they  replied  with  great  courtesy,  but  with  still 
greater  caution.  They  affirmed  that  they  had  neither  re- 
ceived letters  out  of  Judasa  concerning  him,  nor  had  any 
of  their  brethren  who  had  come  from  Palestine  shown  or 
spoken  any  harm  of  him.  And  there  is  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  in  speaking  thus  they  were  dealing  either  in  false- 
hood or  in  prevarication.  They  might  have  heard  of  Paul's 
doings  in  other  places;  but  of  the  things  to  which  he  had 
specially  referred  they  had  received  no  intelligence  ;  for,  up 
to  the  very  moment  of  his  appearance  before  Festus,  there 
had  been  no  probability  that  the  apostle's  case  would  go 
farther  than  the  provincial  court,  and  no  Jew  would  think  it 
worth  while  to  make  allusion  to  him  in  writing  to  Rome. 
Then,  after  he  had  taken  his  appeal,  he  had  been  sent  so 
speedily  to  Italy  that  no  one  could  have  anticipated  his  ar- 
rival there,  either  by  letter  or  by  personal  travel.  The  ship 
in  which  he  had  come  to  Puteoli  was  among  the  first,  if  not 
the  first  of  the  season ;  and  that  in  which  he  had  left  Cses- 


488  Paul  the  Missionary. 

area  was  among  the  last,  if  not  the  last  of  the  preceding 
season ;  so  that  the  earliest  news  of  his  case  would  come 
with  himself. 

They  added  to  their  assertion  the  expression  of  their  de- 
sire to  hear  what  he  had  to  say  upon  the  subject  of  Jesus ; 
for,  as  concerning  the  sect  of  his  disciples,  they  knew  that 
it  was  everywhere  spoken  against.  We  cannot  but  mark 
the  prudence  of  these  men.  They  will  not,  for  the  moment, 
commit  themselves  to  anything.  They  had  not  forgotten 
the  edict  of  Claudius,  and  they  did  not  wish  to  provoke 
another  of  the  same  sort  from  Nero.  Moreover,  they  had 
heard  Paul  say  that  the  Roman  governor  had  pronounced 
him  guiltless.  They  saw,  too,  that  he  was  treated  with  great 
favor  as  a  prisoner ;  and  so  they  judged  it  safer  to  say  as 
little  as  they  could.  Still  they  were  willing,  nay,  desirous,  to. 
give  him  a  hearing.  Therefore,  he  appointed  a  day  on  which 
many  came  to  him,  and  to  them  he  expounded  and  testified 
the  kingdom  of  God,  persuading  them  concerning  Jesus  both 
out  of  the  law  and  out  of  the  prophets.  The  conference  last- 
ed "from  morning  until  evening;"  and  the  result  was  that 
some  believed  and  some  believed  not  the  things  which  were 
spoken.  Thus  they  went  away  *'  not  agreed  among  them- 
selves ;"  but  not  before  Paul  had  reminded  them,  in  the 
words  of  Isaiah,  of  the  hardening  influence  of  resisting  the 
proclamation  of  the  truth,  and  had  intimated  that,  hav- 
ing now  discharged  his  obligations  unto  them,  he  would 
preach  the  Gospel  unto  the  Gentiles,  and  they  would  hear 
it  gladly. 

After  this  Paul  remained  for  two  years  in  Rome,  waiting 
for  the  emperor's  decision  in  his  case,  which  had  been  de- 
layed either  by  the  non-arrival  of  some  necessary  witnesses, 
or  by  the  dilatoriness  for  which  in  matters  of  public  business 
Nero  was  proverbial.  But  though  he  was  under  restraint, 
the  apostle  was  not  idle;  for  his  home  became  a  centre  from 


Rome.  489 

which  influences  went  out  which  carried  blessing  and  guid- 
ance to  the  churches  of  the  Gentiles  of  his  own  day,  and 
which  are  yet  working  for  good  wherever  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  read.  The  beloved  physician  Luke  has  carried  his 
history  no  farther,  his  design  evidently  being  to  bring  up  his 
narrative  to  that  point  at  which,  in  the  person  of  its  chiefest 
apostle,  the  power  of  God  in  the  Gospel  was  brought  into 
contact  with  the  power  of  the  world  in  its  strongest  seat. 
But  from  the  letters  to  Philemon,  the  Colossians,  the  Ephe- 
sians,  and  the  Philippians,  which  were  written  during  Paul's 
residence  in  Rome  at  this  time,  we  may  glean  many  inter- 
esting particulars  whirh  may  help  to  set  before  us  the  work 
in  which  he  was  engaged,  and  the  friends  by  whom  he  was 
surrounded. 

In  one  of  these*  he  tells  us  that  his  imprisonment  "had 
fallen  out  rather  unto  the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel ;  so  that 
his  bonds  in  Christ  were  manifest  in  all  the  palace,  and  in 
all  other  places."  Now,  as  Dr.  Lightfoot  has,  I  think,  con- 
clusively shown  that  the  term  here  translated  "  palace  "f  is 
a  collective  noun  denoting  the  whole  body  of  the  pretorian 
guards,  rather  than  any  locality,  we  have  thereby  a  flood  of 
light  thrown  upon  the  kind  of  influence  by  which  the  effect 
described  was  produced.  From  that  regiment  the  compa- 
nies were  drafted  off,  whose  individual  members  took  each 
his  turn  in  guarding  the  apostle.  In  this  way  as  the  months 
rolled  round  a  goodly  number  of  the  soldiers  would  be 
brought  into  direct  contact  with  him,  and  he  would  lead 
them  by  his  earnest  conversations  up  to  that  Gospel  with 
which  he  was  so  identified.  Moreover  they  had  opportuni- 
ties of  learning  his  doctrines  and  observing  his  life  such  as 


*  Phil,  i.,  12, 13. 

t  In  the  original,  irpaiTiopui).     See  "Lightfoot  on  the  Philippians,' 
pp.  97-102. 


490  Paul  the  Missionary. 

none  others  ever  enjoyed.  They  heard  his  familiar  talks 
with  the  friends  who  frequented  his  abode ;  they  listened 
while  he  dictated,  sometimes  with  tears,  those  letters  which 
are  so  remarkable  for  the  combination  of  the  richest  doc- 
trinal statements  with  the  wisest  practical  exhortations ; 
and,  after  all  others  had  withdrawn  from  him,  the  soldier  at 
the  other  end  of  his*  chain  would  be  a  witness  of  those  fer- 
vent prayers  to  which  he  has  so  frequently  referred  in  his 
epistles.  All  this  would  awaken  remark  in  the  guard-room 
of  the  barrack ;  then  it  would  stimulate  curiosity  and  bring 
others  to  examine  and  verify  the  reports  they  heard ;  and 
then  it  would  produce  in  many  hearts  the  conviction  that  he 
was  speaking  truth,  and  so  lead  them  to  the  Lord.  Nor  can 
we  well  over-estimate  the  value  of  such  a  result  as  a  factor 
in  the  evangelization  of  the  Roman  Empire.  These  sol- 
diers were  always  in  communication  with  distant  places ; 
they  were  liable  to  be  sent  on  important  missions  to  far- 
away provinces,  and,  converted  themselves,  they  would  be- 
come in  the  most  natural  way  missionaries  of  the  Gospel 
of  Christ  wherever  they  went.  This  was  the  putting  of  the 
leaven  into  the  meal ;  and  when,  more  than  a  century  later, 
Tertullian  made  his  famous  defence,  in  which  he  refers  to 
the  number  of  Christians  in  the  army,  we  see  how  effectively 
it  wrought. 

But  the  presence  of  Paul  at  Rome,  even  though  he  v/as  a 
prisoner,  was  valuable  in  another  way,  for  he  says  :  "  Many 
of  the  brethren  in  the  Lord,  waxing  confident  by  my  bonds, 
are  much  more  bold  to  speak  the  word  without  fear.  Some 
indeed  preach  Christ  even  of  envy  and  strife ;  and  some 
also  of  good-will :  the  one  preach  Christ  of  contention,  not 
sincerely,  supposing  to  add  affliction  to  my  bonds :  but  the 
other  of  love,  knowing  that  I  am  set  for  the  defence  of  the 
gospel.  What  then  ?  notwithstanding,  every  way,  whether 
in  pretence,  or  in  truth,  Christ  is  preached ;  and  I  therein 


Rome.  491 

do  rejoice,  yea,  and  will  rejoice."*  Now,  to  understand  the 
meaning  of  these  verses  we  must  remember  that  in  the 
church  at  Rome,  as  in  the  other  Gentile  churches,  there  were 
two  parties.  Its  origin  had  been,  most  probably,  in  the  con- 
version on  the  Day  of  Pentecost  of  those  "strangers  of 
Rome,  Jews,  and  proselytes,"  who  are  mentioned  in  the  sec- 
ond chapter  of  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Naturally,  there- 
fore, these  -persons  would  retain  their  Jewish  predilections 
and  prejudices,  and  would  be  grieved  at  the  reports  which 
from  time  to  time  they  heard  of  Paul's  doings  in  the  cities 
of  the  East.  But,  in  process  of  time,  to  the  company  of  Jews 
and  proselytes  who  had  first  embraced  the  Gospel  would  be 
added  others  who,  like  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  and  those  men- 
tioned in  the  salutations  in  the  sixteenth  chapter  of  The 
Romans,  were  thoroughly  in  sympathy  with  the  teachings  of 
our  apostle.  Thus  there  were  here  also  the  Judaistic  and 
the  liberal  elements ;  and  no  one  can  read  the  Epistle  to 
the  Romans  without  feeling  that  the  numerical  majority 
was  on  the  Judaistic  side.  I  think,  too,  that  his  knowledge 
of  that  fact  had  something  to  do  with  causing  Paul's  anx- 
iety when  he  landed  at  Puteoli ;  even  as  it  was  the  appear- 
ance of  some  of  the  members  of  the  church  at  Appii  Forum 
that  dispelled  his  gloojn.  But  though  on  his  first  appear- 
ance the  disaffection  of  the  Jewisii  party  in  the  church  to- 
ward him  might  not  assert  itself,  it  would  be  sure  to  come 
out  afterward ;  and  there  seems  to  me  to  be  an  indication 
that  it  did,  in  these  words  to  the  Colossians  :t  "  Aristarchus 
my  fellow-prisoner  saluteth  you,  and  Marcus,  sister's  son  to 
Barnabas,  and  Jesus,  which  is  called  Justus,  who  are  of  the 
circumcision.  These  only  are  my  fellow-workers  unto  the 
kingdom  of  God,  which  have  been  a  comfort  unto  me." 
We   are  obliged  to  infer  from  this  statement  that,  though 

*  Phil,  i.,  14-18.  t  Col.  iv.,  10,  II. 


492  Paul  the  Missionary. 

there  were  some  of  the  circumcision  party  —  Jesus  Justus 
and  Mark,  to  wit — who  were  a  comfort  to  him,  working  in 
harmony  with  him,  and  loyally  carrying  out  the  principles 
on  which  the  compromise  of  the  Jerusalem  council  had  been 
constructed,  all  the  rest  of  that  Judaistic  wing  were  moved 
with  envy  toward  him,  and  had  been  anything  but  a  comfort 
to  him.  They  were  stirred  up  by  the  spirit  of  contention  to 
preach  Christ  in  their  own  limited  fashion,  in  order  that  they 
might,  if  possible,  aggravate  his  sufferings.  But  they  did  not 
know  Paul.  He  could  distinguish  between  things  that  dif- 
fered. In  that  great  heathen  city  the  question  raised  by 
their  preaching  was  not  what  it  had  been  when  they  carried 
their  doctrines  into  churches  already  formed  under  his  min- 
istry. In  the  latter  case  the  choice  was  between  the  bond- 
age of  ritualism  and  the  liberty  of  the  Gospel ;  but  in  the 
former  it  was  between  an  imperfect  presentation  of  the  Gos- 
pel to  the  heathen  and  no  presentation  of  it  at  all ;  and  so, 
as  Christ  was  preached,  however  unworthily,  both  in  manner 
and  in  motive,  he  rejoiced. 

But  the  friends  of  Paul  were  stimulated  by  his  presence, 
even  more  than  were  his  enemies.  They  saw  how  lenient, 
on  the  whole,  his  imprisonment  was ;  and  so  their  dread  of 
the  consequences  of  preaching  openly  the  Gospel  was  less- 
ened, while  the  example  of  the  apostle  himself  was,  if  I  may 
so  express  it,  wholesomely  contagious ;  for  as  they  saw  his 
meekness,  patience,  and  activity,  they  caught  somewhat  of 
his  spirit.     Thus  they  "  waxed  confident "  by  his  bonds. 

The  influence  of  Paul's  residence  in  Rome  was  felt  even 
in  the  imperial  household;  for  in  his  letter  to  the  Philip- 
pians  he  says,  "All  the  saints  salute  you,  chiefly  they  that 
are  of  Caesar's  household."*  It  is  not  improbable  that 
there  were  in  the  palace  some  slaves  or  freedmen  who  had, 

*  Phil,  iv.,  22. 


Rome.  493 

before  his  coming,  been  converted  to  the  faith,  and  they 
would  come  Hke  others  under  the  inspiration  of  his  pres- 
ence, and  be  quickened  thereby  to  new  earnestness.  We 
have  very  slender  materials  supplied  by  secular  historians 
wherewith  to  illustrate  this  branch  of  the  apostle's  work. 
Some,  indeed,  from  what  appear  to  me  to  be  very  slight  ma- 
terials, have  attempted  to  prove  that  the  noble  Roman  lady 
Pomponia  Grscina,  the  wife  of  Aulus  Plautius,who  conquer- 
ed Britain,  was  a  convert  to  Christianity.  She  was  tried  by 
her  husband  in  a.d.  57  or  58,  before  Paul  reached  the  city, 
for  "  foreign  superstition ;"  but  there  is  no  evidence  to  show 
that  the  "superstition"  describes  the  Gospel  of  Christ;  and 
in  any  case  she  could  not  have  been  one  of  Paul's  spirit- 
ual children.  A  similar  attempt  to  identify  the  Pudens  and 
Claudia  in  Paul's  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy  with  persons 
of  distinction  in  the  city,  rests  upon  suppositions  rather  than 
well-attested  facts.  But  however  it  may  have  been  at  the 
time,  the  effect  of  Paul's  labors  showed  itself  in  the  next 
generation  in  certain  members  of  the  imperial  family  itself ; 
for  Flavins  Clemens  and  his  wife,  Flavia  Domitilla,  both 
cousins  of  the  Emperor  Domitian,  were  accused  of  atheism 
and  Jewish  manners,  and  condemned  by  the  emperor.  Even 
Gibbon  admits  that  this  singular  association  of  ideas  which 
involved  disbelief  in  the  prevalent  idolatry,  combined  with 
the  practice  of  a  pure  morality,  cannot  be  with  any  propriety 
applied  except  to  the  Christians ;  and  so  we  may  perhaps 
conclude  that  they  were  numbered  among  the  noble  army 
of  martyrs  to  the  Gospel.  But  for  the  rest  we  may  say  with 
Merivale  that  "  over  Paul's  intercourse  with  '  those  of  Cae- 
sar's household '  a  cloud  rests  which  we  can  never  hope  to 
penetrate."* 

*  "  St.  Paul  at  Rome,"  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Merivale,  D.D.,  Dean  of 
Ely,  p.  115. 


494  Paul  the  Missionary. 

We  are  on  safer  ground,  by  far,  when  we  complete  our 
delineation  of  the  apostle  at  this  time  by  placing  him  in  the 
midst  of  the  friends  who  made  his  house  their  common  place 
of  resort.  Foremost  among  these  was  Luke,  the  compan- 
ion of  his  voyage,  and  the  devoted  medical  attendant,  who 
gave  up  the  gains  of  his  profession  that  he  might  wait  on 
the  apostle  and  become  the  chronicler  of  the  life,  death,  and 
resurrection  of  the  Lord,  and  of  the  early  history  of  the 
Church  under  the  ministry  of  the  Spirit.  Next  was  Aris- 
tarchus  of  Thessalonica,  -who  had  also  been  a  fellow-passen- 
ger with  him  from  Caesarea,  and  who,  some  years  earlier, 
had  risked  his  life  with  him  at  Ephesus.  Next  was  Timothy, 
his  well-beloved  son  in  the  faith,  who,  if  we  may  judge  from 
the  presence  of  his  name  in  the  opening  salutations  of  three 
out  of  the  four  letters  which  were  written  at  this  time,  seems 
to  have  been  with  Paul  for  a  portion  at  least  of  these  two 
years.  Tychicus  was  there  for  a  time  from  Ephesus ;  Epaph- 
roditus  from  Philippi ;  Epaphras  from  Colosse.  There,  also, 
w^ere  those  two  with  histories  so  singularly  similar  in  one 
particular — Demas  and  Mark.  Let  us  hope  that  before  the 
death  of  the  former  the  resemblance  was  completed,  and 
that  he  too  returned  to  his  first  love  with  more  earnest  con- 
secration than  before.  To  these  we  must  add  Jesus  Justus, 
one  of  the  circumcision,  who  as  we  have  seen  was  a  comfort 
to  Paul  j  and  Onesimus,  the  runaway  slave  whom  the  apos- 
tle had  begotten  in  his  bonds,  and  whom  he  was  soon  to 
send  to  his  former  master,  not  now  as  a  slave  but  as  a  broth- 
er beloved.  I  wonder  that  no  Christian  artist  has  tried  to 
put  upon  the  canvas  some  delineation  of  Paul  surrounded 
by  these  companions,  and  chained  to  "  the  soldier  that  kept 
him."  It  would  make  a  most  remarkable  group.  I  have 
seen  paintings  of  warriors  with  their  generals  ;  of  presidents 
and  prime-ministers  with  their  cabinets  ;  and  of  authors  with 
their  literary  friends.     But  what  were  the  greatest  of  these 


Rome.  495 

in  comparison  with  those  who  used  to  meet  thus  in  the  hired 
house  of  the  apostle  on  the  Palatine  Hill  ?  In  this  little 
group  we  have  three  of  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament, 
who  w^ere  the  human  instruments  of  giving  us  at  least  two- 
thirds  of  its  contents.  Behold  the  irony  of  history  !  The 
words  of  the  Roman  literati  of  that  era  are  mostly  lost, 
and  those  that  remain  are  known  and  read  by  but  a  few 
scholars ;  whereas  the  writings  of  these  men,  who  were 
sneered  at  by  Tacitus  as  the  votaries  of  a  "wretched  su- 
perstition," are  enthroned  in  the  hearts  of  myriads. 

But  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  these  friends  were  there 
merely  to  cheer  and  comfort  Paul  by  their  fellowship.  They 
did  that,  but  they  did  far  more  than  that ;  for  they  were 
there  principally  that  they  might  consult  him  on  matters 
pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  churches,  and  that  they 
might  furnish  him  with  the  means  of  communicating  with 
the  churches.  Some  of  them  w^ere  what  we  may  call  the 
letter-carriers  of  the  apostle.  Onesimus  was  the  bearer  of 
the  Epistle  to  Philemon ;  Epaphroditus  carried  that  which 
was  addressed  to  the  Philippians ;  and  Tychicus  was  the 
messenger  to  the  Colossians  and  Ephesians.  There  were 
probably  other  epistles  written  then,  of  which  now  we  have 
no  trace  ;  but  even  if  these  were  all,  they  show  us  that  Paul 
was  still,  though  chained,  the  centre  of  a  large  system  of 
effort,  from  which,  like  the  life-blood  from  the  heart,  pul- 
sations of  strength  and  wisdom  went  out  to  the  remotest 
churches  of  the  Gentiles. 

The  circumstances  in  connection  with  which  these  letters 
were  written  may  be  so  fully  learned  from  the  statements 
which  they  contain,  and  the  principles  which  they  enforce 
have  such  abiding  importance,  that  we  shall  be  well  repaid 
if  we  endeavor  to  find  out  the  history  of  their  production 
and  to  give  an  analysis  of  their  contents.  For  these  studies, 
however,  another  lecture  will  be  required.     Meanwhile,  let 


496  Paul  the  Missionary. 

us  take  with  us  something  of  present,  practical  assistance 
suggested  by  the  narrative  on  which  we  have  been  engaged. 
We  are  reminded,  then,  in  the  first  place,  that  each  of  us 
has  his  own  chain.*  I  said  last  Lord's-day  evening  that, 
very  commonly  w^hen  we  reach  the  goal  on  wdiich  we  had 
set  our  hearts,  we  get  with  it  something  that  seems,  at  first 
sight,  to  fetter  us  in  its  enjoyment  or  improvement.  But 
now  I  generalize  the  statement  and  affirm  that  each  has 
his  own  bonds.  There  is  not  one  of  us  who  does  not 
feel  himself  fettered  somewhere  or  somehow;  so  that  he 
cannot  quite  accomplish  all  that  he  desires  to  do.  Contin- 
ually we  discover  that  the  accomplishment  of  our  purposes 
is  prevented  by  the  fact  that  we  cannot  pass  beyond  the 
limit  of  our  chain.  "  We  could  have  done  so  much  better, 
or  so  much  more,"  so  we  often  say,  "  if  some  unavoidable 
or  hampering  influence  had  not  hindered  us."  Thus  we 
are  each  carrying  about  a  chain,  of  which,  so  long  as  we  are 
working  within  its  limits,  we  may  be  largely  unconscious, 
but  which  brings  us  to  a  stand  the  moment  we  have  gone 
to  its  farthest  extent.  The  business  man,  if  he  is  to  serve 
God  in  his  daily  pursuits,  must  look  after  them ;  and  so  he 
is  bound  to  his  counting-house  by  a  cord  which  neither  his 
God  nor  his  conscience  will  allow  him  to  break.  The  pro- 
fessional man  is  hemmed  in  by  his  engagements  as  really  as 
the  prisoner  is  by  the  walls  of  his  dungeon — with  this  differ- 
ence, that  in  the  latter  case  the  restraints  are  external  and 
physical,  while  in  the  former  they  are  internal  and  spiritual. 
The  invalid  is  held  down  to  her  couch  as  truly  by  weakness 
as  the  galley-slave  was  fixed  to  his  seat  by  his  chains ;  and 
her  devoted  nurse  is  kept  continually  at  her  bedside  by  a 
bond  which  is  not  the  less  real  because  it  is  invisible,  or 


*  Several  paragraphs  in  this  discourse  have  already  appeared  in  the 
volume  entitled  "  The  Limitations  of  Life,  and  other  Sermons." 


Rome.  497 

the  less  powerful  because  its  strands  are  made  of  love.  The 
mother  is  for  the  most  part  bound  to  her  home,  so  that  wher- 
ever she  goes  she  feels  tugging  at  her  heart  the  silken  string 
that  ties  her  to  the  cradle  and  its  inmate.  The  minister  is 
held  to  his  pulpit  and  its  immediate  sphere.  The  poor  man 
is  hampered  by  his  poverty,  and  he  who  is  the  servant  of 
another  has  his  service  of  God  in  some  sort  conditioned  and 
qualified  by  the  duties  which  he  owes  to  his  earthly  master. 
Thus  every  man,  like  Paul,  has  his  chain. 

But  that  we  may  not  be  discouraged  by  that,  let  us  re- 
member, in  the  second  place,  that  such  a  chain  is  no  dis- 
grace to  us.  Paul  was  not  a  prisoner  because  of  any  evil 
he  had  done.  Rather  his  chain  was  put  upon  him  because 
he  would  neither  do  what  was  wrong  nor  suffer  others  to 
inflict  injustice  upon  him.  His  chain  was  a  trophy  of  prin- 
ciple ;  and  though  others  might  be  ashamed  of  his  bonds, 
he  never  hung  his  head  on  their  account.  Now,  it  is  quite 
similar  with  those  Providential  limitations  of  our  service  of 
God  and  of  our  generation  to  which  I  have  compared  Paul's 
chain.  There  is  no  disgrace  in  poverty  or  in  sickness,  pro- 
vided only  we  have  not  brought  it  upon  ourselves  by  our 
sin.  The  business  man  has  no  need  to  be  ashamed  of  his 
attention  to  his  counting-house ;  nay,  rather,  the  shame  and 
sin  would  be  if  through  neglect  he  should  let  himself  drift 
into  ruin.  The  mother  cannot  think  that  she  is  disgraced 
by  the  little  ones  that  fill  the  nursery  with  their  glee  and 
take  so  much  of  her  care.  Disgraced !  nay,  rather  she  is 
highly  favored  among  women ;  for  is  it  not  written,  "  Lo ! 
children  are  an  heritage  of  the  Lord?"  And  if  there  be 
anywhere  the  human  likeness  of  that  angel  who  ministered 
to  our  Lord  in  his  Gethsemane  anguish,  it  is  to  be  found  in 
the  devoted  nurse  who  tends  the  fevered  sufferer  through 
his  midnight  tossings.  Let  us  not  make  misery  for  our- 
selves, therefore,  by  imagining  that  these  chains  of  ours  are 


498  .  Paul  the  Missionary. 

things  for  which  we  ourselves  are  to  be  blamed.  They  have 
come  in  the  providence  of  God.  They  have  been  put  upon 
us  because  we  have  refused  to  desert  the  post  of  present 
and  immediate  duty;  and  though  they  may  seem  to  keep  us 
from  doing  all  that  we  should  wish  to  accomplish  for  the 
Lord,  we  need  not  blush  because  of  them. 

Moreover,  finally,  v/e  may  take  comfort  in  the  thought 
here  suggested  to  us,  that  these  chains  need  not  really  pre- 
vent our  usefulness.  I  doubt  not — for  Paul  was  very  hu- 
man— that  he  was  sometimes  saddened  by  the  thought  that 
his  long  imprisonment  had  kept  him  from  that  missionary 
work  on  which  his  heart  was  set ;  yet,  as  we  have  seen,  by 
the  quiet  persistence  of  his  efforts  with  those  who  came 
within  the  range  of  his  chain,  he  succeeded  in  doing  a  great 
missionary  work  among  the  soldiers;  while  in  the  epistles 
to  which  I  have  referred  he  is  even  now  preaching  to  Chris- 
tians everywhere.  Thus  he  was  laid  aside  from  his  usual 
work  for  a  time,  in  order  that  through  these  letters  he 
might  work  for  all  time.  How  much  the  business  man 
might  accomplish  for  the  Lord,  if  he  were  only  to  do  with 
those  who  are  brought  into  immediate  contact  with  him  what 
Paul  did  with  his  military  guards !  And  is  there  anywhere 
on  earth  a  sanctuary  so  blessed  as  the  sick  -  chamber,  in 
which  the  pulpit  is  a  couch  of  suffering,  and  the  preacher 
is  a  patient,  loving,  gentle  one,  who  tries  to  bear  all  for  the 
sake  of  Christ?  It  may  seem  a  great  hardship  to  the 
mother  that  she  is  kept  by  family  cares  from  joining  in  the 
work  which  used  to  be  her  joy;  but  let  her  wait  awhile  until 
that  bright-eyed  boy  at  her  knee  has  grown  up  to  be  a  god- 
ly man,  it  may  be  to  become  an  earnest  minister,  and  then 
she  will  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  her  influence 
is  telling  through  him  on  all  whom  he  benefits.  The  min- 
ister is  chained  to  his  pulpit,  and  when  he  reads  the  stirring 
story  of  some  noble  man  who  has  quickened  thousands  by 


Rome.  499 

his  words,  he  is  apt  to  think,  "  Alas !  I  am  but  a  poor  pris- 
oner here ;  it  is  little  that  I  can  do  for  my  Lord;"  but  there 
happens  to  be  in  his  congregation  for  the  day — men  would 
say  by  accident ;  I  prefer  to  say  in  the  providence  of  God — 
a  youth  who  is  going  out  West  to  begin  life  for  himself;  a 
man  of  business,  just  about  to  set  sail  for  a  heathen  city 
in  the  far  East;  and  perhaps,  also,  a  missionary  soon  to  re- 
turn to  his  work  among  the  sons  of  Africa.  The  preacher 
all  unconscious  of  their  presence,  seeks  to  do  his  best  for 
the  souls  of  his  hearers,  and  some  word  falls  into  each  of 
these  three  hearts,  so  that  each  goes  forth  with  new  inspira- 
tion to  labor  for  the  Lord.  By-and-by  a  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  springs  up  in  the  new  settlement  in  the 
West ;  a  demand  comes  for  Bibles  from  the  heathen  city ; 
and  tidings  of  a  revival  of  religion  are  wafted  home  from 
the  mission  station  within  the  tropics  ;  and  as  the  minister 
hears  of  these  things  traced  by  each  of  these  workers  to  his 
words — where  now  is  the  imprisonment  ?  and  of  hov/  little 
consequence  is  now  the  chain!  We  do  not  know — and  it  is 
well  for  us  that  we  do  not  know — how  far-reaching  are  our 
deeds  and  words.  If  we  did,  pride  would  soon  take  the 
place  of  humility,  and  that  would  unfit  us  for  our  work.  So 
God  keeps  us  dov^m  to  keep  us  useful ;  but  among  the  many 
pleasant  surprises  which  he  has  reserved  for  us  when  we 
enter  heaven  will  be  the  discovery,  that  efforts  put  forth  by 
us,  and  which  we  supposed  to  be  restricted  to  a  very  limited 
area,  have  been,  under  God,  the  germs  from  which  rich  har- 
vests of  blessing  have  been  reaped  by  multitudes  whom  we 
have  never  seen  till  then.  Do  not,  therefore,  undervalue 
your  position,  but  use  it,  bonds  and  all,  for  Christ.  We 
may  be  in  bonds,  but  Christ  is  free  ;  and  the  little  which 
we  put  into  his  hands  may  find  its  way,  through  him,  to 
those  from  whom  we  are  kept  by  the  hampering  limitations 
of  our  earthly  lot. 


XXVII. 

THE  EPISTLES  OF  THE  IMPRISONMENT. 

AN  examination  of  the  salutations  and  personal  allu- 
sions in  the  Epistles  to  the  Colossians,  Philemon,  the 
Ephesians,  and  the  Philippians^  leads  us  to  conclude  that 
they  were  all  written  about  the  same  date ;  while  the  refer- 
ences made  in  all  of  them  to  his  "bonds"  render  it  abso- 
lutely certain  that  their  author  was,  at  the  time,  a  prisoner.f 
They  must  have  been  sent,  therefore,  either  from  Caesarea, 
where  Paul  w^as  kept  for  two  years  by  Felix,  or  from  Rome, 
where  he  was  held  under  Nero  for  a  similar  term,  and  where 
Luke  leaves  him,  as  he  closes  his  narrative  of  The  Acts  of 
the  Apostles.  Up  till  a  very  recent  date  the  all  but  unani- 
mous verdict  of  scholars  was  given  in  favor  of  the  opinion 
that  they  w^ere  transmitted  from  Rome ;  but  latterly  certain 
German  criticsi  have  advanced  some  arguments,  more  in- 
genious and  elaborate  than  convincing,  in  support  of  the 
view  that  they  were  written  at  Caesarea.  To  me,  however, 
these  reasonings  are  outweighed  by  the  mention  of  "Cae- 
sar's household  "  in  the  letter  to  the  Philippians,  since  that 
phrase  cannot  by  any  stretch  of  exegesis  be  made  to  desig- 
nate any  establishment,  however  important,  in  a  Palestinian 
city.  Therefore,  Avithout  the  slightest  misgiving,  I  rest  in 
the  generally  received  opinion,  believing  that  it  not  only 


*  Eph.  vi,,2i,22;  Col.  iv.,  7-9;  Col.  iv.,  10-14  ;  Philem.  9,  23,  24. 
1  Eph.  iii.,  I ;  iv.,  I ;  vi.,  20  ;  Phil,  i.,  7,  13, 14,  16 ;  Col.  iv.,  3,  18. 
X  Meyer,  Schenkel,  and  Schultz  may  be  named.  . 


The  Epistles  of  the  Imprisonment.  501 

harmonizes  with  all  the  details  which  the  letters  contain, 
but  also  throws  a  clearer  light  on  the  drift  and  purpose  of 
the  letters  themselves. 

Of  these  four  epistles  the  earliest*  appears  to  have  been 
that  to  the  members  of  the  church  at  Colosse,  which  was  a 
city  of  Phrygia,  on  the  river  Lycus,  and  w^as  famous  for  its 
woollen  manufactures  and  the  skill  to  which  its  merchants 
had  attained  in  the  art  of  dyeing.  The  fact  that  this  let- 
ter was  addressed  to  the  Christians  there,  is  evidence  that 
a  church  existed,  as  early  as  the  year  a.d.  61,  in  that  city; 
but  we  have  no  information  that  enables  us  to  tell  when  or 
by  whom  it  was  founded.  Mention  is  made  in  The  Acts  of 
the  Apostles  of  two  journeys  taken  by  Paul  through  Phryg- 
ia ;  the  firstt  to  introduce  the  Gospel  into  that  region,  and 
the  seconds  to  confirm  those  who,  on  the  former  occasion, 
had  become  disciples ;  but  in  neither  case  is  there  any  allu- 
sion to  Colosse.  Indeed,  from  an  expression  in  the  letter 
itself§  it  is  all  but  certain  that  the  Colossian  Christians  had 
not,  up  till  that  date,  seen  Paul's  face  in  the  flesh,  and  so 
we  cannot  speak  of  him  as  having  been  personally  the 
founder  of  their  church.  But  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt' 
that  it  sprung  indirectly  out  of  his  labors.  During  his  three 
years'  residence  in  Ephesus  he  must  have  been  brought  into 
contact  with  visitors  from  various  cities  in  Asia,  and  it  is 
possible  that  through  them  the  Gospel  was  introduced  into 
their  several  places  of  abode ;  or  the  members  of  the  church 
of  Ephesus  may  have  sent  agents  out  to  these  important 
centres  charged  with  the  duty  of  preaching  the  Gospel  to 
their  inhabitants. 

The  same  messenger  who  took  the  letter  to  the  Colos- 


*  But  it  is  not  certain  which  of  the  two — Colossians  or  Ephesians— 
was  first  composed. 

t  Acts  xvi.,  6.  t  Acts  xviii,,  23.  §  Col.  ii.,  i. 

22 


502  Paul  the  Missionary. 

sians  was  the  bearer  of  that  to  the  Ephesians  j"^  and  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Colossians  there  is  tender  allusion  to  the 
churches  in  Laodicea  and  Hierapolis.f  There  must,  there- 
fore, have  been  a  very  close  communion  between  the  Chris- 
tians of  these  four  cities,  and  that  gives  ground  for  the  be- 
lief that  the  churches  of  Colosse,  Laodicea,  and  Hierapolis 
were  the  daughters  of  that  at  Ephesus.  If  that  were  indeed 
the  case,  they  would  be  very  dear  to  Paul ;  and  as  he  would 
be  constantly  referred  to  by  their  instructors,  they  would 
naturally  apply  to  him  for  direction  in  all  matters  of  diffi- 
culty or  disputation.  In  this  way  it  is  easy  to  account  for 
the  facts  that  Epaphras  described  to  the  apostle  the  state 
of  things  in  Colosse,  and  that,  in  consequence  of  his  having 
received  such  an  account  concerning  them,  Paul  wrote  the 
letter  which  is  now  associated  with  the  name  of  the  Chris- 
tians of  that  city.  Whether  Epaphras  had  been  deputed  to 
the  apostle  by  the  Church,  or  merely  took  advantage  of  his 
providential  meeting  with  him  at  Rome  for  the  purpose  of 
consulting  him,  does  not  clearly  appear.  In  his  letter  to 
Philemon,  Paul  calls  him  his  "  fellow-prisoner  ;"|  but  that 
may  mean  only  that  he  was  a  voluntary  sharer  with  him  of 
the  restraint  under  which  he  was  held  by  his  chain.  It  is 
possible,  however,  that  he  was  sent  to  Rome  from  Colosse, 
just  as  Paul  had  been  sent  from  Cssarea,  and  that  he  availed 
himself  of  the  opportunity  of  reporting  to  Paul  the  critical 
condition  of  the  church  of  which  he  was  the  "  faithful  min- 
ister." 

So  far  as  we  can  infer  from  the  contents  of  the  epistle, 
three  tendencies  had  developed  themselves  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Colossian  church,  namely,  first,  toward  a  vain 
philosophy  which  affected  special  acquaintance  with  spirit- 

*  Col.  iv.,  7  ;  Eph.  vi.,  21,  22.  t  Col.  ii.,  i ;  iv.,  13,  16. 

J  Philem.  23. 


The  Epistles  of  the  LmprisoniMent.  503 

ual  things,  and  indulged  in  useless  and  unwarrantable  spec- 
ulations regarding  angels ;  second,  toward  the  observance, 
as  of  prime  importance,  of  Jewish  ordinances  "in  meat,  or 
in  drink,  or  in  respect  of  a  holy  day,  or  of  the  new  moon, 
or  of  the  sabbath  days;"  and  third,  toward  the  practices  of 
an  asceticism  which,  as  Paul  afhrmed,  had  "  a  show  of  wis- 
dom in  will -worship,  and  humility,  and  neglecting  of  the 
body;  not  in  any  honor."^  These  tendencies  were  appar- 
ently connected  with  the  labors  among  them  of  one  man,t 
who  was  probably  an  Alexandrian  Jew,  combining  in  him- 
self a  regard  for  the  customs  of  the  law  or  Moses,  with  a 
belief  in  that  element  of  Oriental  philosophy  which  regard- 
ed matter  as  essentially  evil,  and  which  recommended  as- 
cetic practices  as  the  necessary  means  for  emancipating  the ' 
soul  from  the  slavery  of  the  flesh. 

To  meet  these  evils  Paul,  guided  by  the  inspiring  Spirit, 
sets  himself  in  his  epistle,  and  it  is  at  once  interesting  and 
instructive  to  observe  how  he  repels  them  all  by  dwelling 
on  the  person  and  work  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  con- 
fronts the  darkness  with  the  light,  and  thereby  he  most  ef- 
fectually dispels  it.  He  reminds  those  who  were  contin- 
ually boasting  of  the  fulness  of  their  knowledge  that  "it 
had  pleased  the  Father  that  in  Christ  should  all  fulness 
dwell."  He  removes  all  pretext  for  the  worship  of  angels 
by  insisting  on  the  pre-eminence  of  Him  "  who  is  before 
all  things  and  by  whom  all  things  consist."  And  he  vindi- 
cates the  liberty  of  Christian  disciples  by  enlarging  on  the 
perfection  of  the  work  of  Christ  on  their  behalf,  and  by  re- 
minding them  that  they  were  "complete  in  him."  Like  the 
letter  to  the  Galatians,  this  to  the  Colossians  was  evoked 
by  a  special  occasion ;  and  though  there  is  less  of  vehement 
indignation  and  affectionate   appeal   in  it,  he  carries  here 

*  Col.ii.,8,  16,  23.  t  Col.  ii.,  8, 18. 


504  Paul  the  Missionary. 

also  his  readers  to  the  central  cross,  and  makes  that  the 
test  of  every  opinion  and  practice.  He  did  not  waste  his 
strength  by  entering  upon  a  lengthened  and  minute  argu- 
ment against  every  individual  error;  but  he  contented  him- 
self with  setting  forth  positively  the  pre-eminence  of  Christ's 
personal  dignity,  the  perfection  of  his  work,  and  the  fulness 
of  that  salvation  which  he  has  wrought  out  for  all  who  choose 
to  accept  of  it  by  faith.  The  one  figure  which  stands  out  in 
bold  relief  in  this  epistle  is  that  of  Christ.  The  absorbing 
ambition  of  its  author  is  to  preserve  intact  for  him  that  ex- 
clusive supremacy  which  of  right  belongs  to  him,  and  to  vin- 
dicate the  liberty  which  he  has  conferred  upon  his  believing 
people.  Paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  these  two  things  al- 
ways go  together.  Where  Christ  is  owned  as  the  sole  sov- 
ereign, there  his  service  is  perfect  freedom ;  but  where  his 
supremacy  is  either  ignored  or  given  to  another,  there  comes 
the  slavery  of  superstition,  or  the  tyranny  of  priestcraft,  or 
the  cold  domination  of  philosophy,  and  it  is  hard  to  say 
which  of  these  is  the  most  degrading.  The  same  tenden- 
cies as  existed  and  operated  in  Colosse  are  working  among 
us  to-day.  Let  us  learn  how  to  meet  them  from  the  study 
of  this  noble  letter,  and  instead  of  fighting  philosophy  with 
philosophy,  or  science,  falsely  so-called,  by  other  science, 
let  us  be  only  the  more  diligent  in  the  full  and  positive  pres- 
entation of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Let  us  exalt  him 
"  in  whom  are  hid  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowl- 
edge," because  "in  him  dwelleth  the  fulness  of  the  God- 
head bodily,"  and  then  before  him  all  error  will  disappear 
even  as  the  mists  of  the  morning  are  scattered  by  the  rising 
sun. 

Along  with  Tychicus,  who  carried  this  letter  to  the  Co- 
lossians,  there  went  Onesimus,  who  was  the  bearer  of  an 
epistle  to  Philemon,  one  of  the  members  of  the  same  church. 
His  story  is  thrilling  in  its  interest;  and  the  letter  which  he 


The  Epistles  of  the  Imprisonment.  505 

carried,  though  the  shortest  of  those  generally  ascribed  to 
Paul,  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  them  all.  In  the 
household  of  Philemon  at  Colosse,  Onesimus  was  originally 
a  slave  ;  but,  yielding  to  some  pressing  temptation,  or  com- 
ing under  some  evil  influence,  he  stole  some  of  his  master's 
property  and  ran  away  from  bondage.  It  was  no  easy  mat- 
ter, then,  to  elude  the  vigilance  of  those  who  were  always 
on  the  outlook  for  making  gain  by  the  restoration  of  slaves 
to  their  owners ;  but,  with  that  criminal  instinct  which  impels 
a  fugitive  to  seek  his  securest  hiding-place  in  the  largest  city, 
he  w^ent  to  P.ome.  There  it  is  likely  that  he  became  the 
associate  of  the  lowest  of  the  inhabitants,  and  as  he  lounged 
about  the  streets  of  the  metropolis  he  was  probably  met 
and  recognized  by  Epaphras,  through  whose  instrumentality 
he  may  have  been  brought  to  Paul.  This  seems  to  me  to 
be  the  most  natural  explanation  of  the  manner  in  which 
they  came  together;  but,  in  whatever  way,  Onesimus  did 
come  into  contact  with  Paul,  and  was  by  him  led  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ;  so  that  he  became  a  humble  and  do- 
cile disciple.  The  singular  history  of  the  man  perhaps  led 
the  apostle  to  take  more  than  common  interest  in  his  wel- 
fare, and  under  his  instructions  he  developed  so  rapidly, 
both  intellectually,  and  spiritually,  that  Paul  actually  cher- 
ished the  idea  of  keeping  him  beside  himself  as  an  assistant 
in  his  work.  But  the  nature  of  the  relationship  between 
Onesimus  and  Philemon,  taken  in  connection,  on  the  one 
hand,  with  the  jealousy  with  which  the  Roman  law  guard- 
ed the  property  claimed  by  a  master  in  his  slave,  and,  on 
the  other,  with  the  personal  friendship  existing  between 
Philemon  and  himself,  determined  Paul  to  take  a  different 
course.  He  sent  Onesimus  back  to  Philemon  ;  and  with 
him  transmitted  the  epistle  with  which  we  are  all  so  famil- 
iar, and  in  which  he  pleads  for  the  reception  of  the  runaway, 
"  not  now  as  a  slave  but  as  a  brother  beloved,"  and  engages 


5o6  Paul  the  Missionary. 

to  make  good,  out  of  his  own  resources,  any  loss  which  had 
been  caused  by  the  dishonesty  of  the  fugitive.  Every  reader 
of  this  brief  note — for  it  is  little  more — must  be  struck  with 
the  writer's  piety,  in  that,  while  using  the  common  forms  of 
correspondence  then  customary  among  men,  he  pours  into 
them  the  new  fervor  of  Christian  love ;  his  courtesy,  in  that 
while  making  delicate  allusion  to  the  spiritual  attainments 
of  Philemon,  he  asks  from  him,  as  a  gift  of  love,  a  favor  to 
his  old  age,  and  a  concession  to  his  "  bonds,"  that  which  he 
might  well  enough  have  enjoined  as  a  duty;  his  consum- 
mate tact,  in  that  after  having  presented  his  petition  he  pro- 
ceeds upon  the  assumption  that  it  is  already  granted,  and 
dwells  upon  the  change  in  the  character  of  Onesimus,  while 
before  he  concludes  he,  as  it  were,  invites  himself  to  be  a 
guest  in  the  home  of  his  friend,  when,  as  he  hopes  soon  to 
do,  he  shall  visit  Colosse;  his  sterling  honesty,  in  that  while 
promising  to  refund  the  loss  which  Onesimus  had  occasion- 
ed, he  gives  evidence  of  his  sincerity,  and  leaves  no  room  for 
doubt  as  to  his  intention,  by  taking  the  pen  from  his  aman- 
uensis and  inscribing  these  words:  "I  Paul  have  written  it 
with  mine  own  hand,  I  will  repay  it ;"  his  humor,  in  that, 
playing  on  the  meaning  of  the  word  Onesimus,  which  signi- 
fies profitable,  he  says — and  I  think  I  can  see  the  twinkle 
in  his  eye  as  he  looked  at  Onesimus  while  he  dictated  the 
clause — "  Which  in  time  past  was  to  thee  unprofitable,  but 
now  profitable  to  thee  and  to  me ;"  and  finally,  his  far-see- 
ing wisdom,  in  that  while  sending  a  fugitive  slave  back  to 
his  master  he  does  so  in  such  a  dignified  and  manly  spirit, 
and  with  such  an  assertion  of  the  rights  of  Christian  broth- 
erhood, as  cut  at  the  root  of  all  slavery  and  introduced  the 
leaven  of  emancipation  into  the  Roman  Empire.  It  is  a 
wonderful  letter,  showing  how  greatness  can  dignify  a  com- 
mon subject,  how  holiness  can  consecrate  a  matter  of  busi- 
ness, and  how  Christian  statesmanship  can  make  an  appar- 


The  Epistles  of  the  Imprisonment.  507 

ently  trivial  thing  the  occasion  for  the  utterance  of  princi- 
ples of  perennial  importance  and  enduring  influence. 

There  are  yet  existing  two  letters  from  that  fascinating 
correspondent,  the  younger  Pliny,  to  his  friend  Sabinianus, 
the  one  entreating  pardon  for  a  freedman  who  had  offended 
him,  and  the  other  acknowledging  gratefully  the  granting  of 
the  request.  They  are  thus  contrasted,  by  so  candid  a  critic 
as  the  late  Dean  Alford,  with  Paul's  Epistle  to  Philemon : 
"The  letters  are  models  of  courtesy,  humanity,  good-feeling. 
But  to  a  Christian  mind  the  comparison  with  this  of  Paul  is 
most  instructive.  They  lack  just  that  in  which  this  is  emi- 
nent. Pliny  conjures  his  friend  by  motives  of  pity,  of  self- 
respect,  even  of  self-indulgence;  for,  says  he,  anger  must 
be  a  torment  to  a  man  of  your  disposition.  Nay,  he  puts 
another  motive  still :  if  you  spare  him  now,  you  will  have 
more  excuse  for  anger  with  him  in  case  he  offends  hereaf- 
ter. Paul  writes  to  his  friend  far  otherwise.  There  is  no 
mere  appeal  to  pity,  no  mirror  held  up  to  self-esteem,  no 
after -thoughts  admitting  and  justifying  inconsistency;  all 
comes  warm  from  the  loving  heart,  and  all  the  heart's  love 
is  kindled  by  the  love  of  Christ."* 

Tychicus,  the  companion  of  Onesimus,  carried  with  him 
also  a  letter  to  the  members  of  the  church  of  Ephesus, 
among  whom,  as  we  have  seen,  Paul  spent  three  years  of 
active  service,  and  over  whom,  therefore,  he  yearned  with 
most  affectionate  solicitude.  There  was  not,  indeed,  among 
them  any  special  emergency  to  be  met,  or  any  local  heresy 
to  be  exposed  and  refuted,  and,  therefore,  he  does  not  ad- 
dress himself  to  any  particular  object  in  which  they  were 
more  interested  than  others;  but  as  his  epistle  to  the  Co- 
lossians  was  written  about  the  same  time,  and  his  mind  was 

*  "  How  to  Study  the  New  Testament,"  by  Dean  Alford,  vol.  ii.,  pp. 
241, 242. 


5o8  Paul  the  Missionary. 

full  of  the  topics  with  which  it  is  concerned,  he  very  natu- 
rally discourses  of  these  to  the  Ephesians.  There  is,  in  fact, 
between  these  two  letters  just  that  sort  of  resemblance  which 
you  find  in  thought  and  language  between  letters  written 
on  the  same  subject  and  about  the  same  date  by  the  same 
author.  And  yet  there  is  a  distinctive  difference  between 
the  two.  The  one  is  particular, the  other  general;  the  one  is 
fragmentary,  the  other  systematic;  and,  whether  it  were  writ- 
ten after  the  other  or  not,  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  is  the 
development  of  the  principles  which  are  insisted  on  in  that 
to  the  Colossians.  In  the  former  he  amplifies  and  elabo- 
rates the  views  which  he  could  only  touch  on  in  the  latter, 
because  of  the  eagerness  with  which  he  sought  to  contro- 
vert the  evils  that  had  appeared  among  those  to  whom  it 
was  sent.  This  explains  how  it  comes  that,  with  so  many 
verbal  resemblances  between  the  two,  the  one  is  so  distinct 
from  the  other  in  what  I  may  call  the  polarization  of  its 
thoughts.  In  the  letter  to  the  Colossians  the  leading  topic 
is  the  person  of  Christ,  because  in  that  he  found  the  anti- 
dote to  all  the  errors  which  he  wished  them  to  refute.  In 
that  to  the  Ephesians  the  method  seems  to  be  determined 
by  the  great  facts  of  redemption;  and  he  enlarges  on  the 
electing,  redeeming,  and  sanctifying  grace  of  God.  "  The 
origin  of  the  Church  in  the  will  of  the  Father ;  the  course 
of  the  Church  by  the  satisfaction  of  the  Son ;  the  scope 
and  aim  of  the  Church  in  its  life  in  the  Spirit;  these,"  says 
Dean  Alford,  "  run  through  the  whole,  dividing  the  epistle 
first  into  three  larger  portions,  and  then  in  these  portions 
carrying  out  the  same  order  in  every  paragraph.  The  whole 
is  a  magnificent  apostolic  comment  on  the  doctrine  of  the 
Holy  Trinity,  as  the  divine  persons  are  concerned  in  the 
work  of  our  redemption."*    Two  of  its  illustrations  are  spe- 

*  "  How  to  Study  the  New  Testament,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  256. 


The  Epistles  of  the  Imprisonment.  509 

cially  interesting,  the  one  from  its  appropriateness  to  the 
Ephesians  themselves,  the  other  from  its  connection  with  the 
circumstances  of  the  apostle  when  he  wrote.  The  Ephe- 
sians dwelt  in  a  city  whose  noblest  ornament  was  the  Tem- 
ple of  Diana,  reputedly  the  most  splendid  specimen  of  Ionic 
architecture  which  the  ancient  world  contained;  and  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  Paul  was  thinking  of  that  imposing 
structure  when  he  wrote  these  words :  "Ye  are  built  upon  the 
foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  him- 
self being  the  chief  corner  stone ;  in  whom  all  the  building 
fitly  framed  together  groweth  unto  a  holy  temple  in  the 
Lord ;  in  whom  ye  also  are  builded  together  for  an  habita- 
tion of  God  through  the  Spirit."*  Again,  when  the  apostle 
wrote  or  dictated  this  letter,  he  had  been  for  probably  more 
than  three  years  in  daily  contact  with  Roman  soldiers.  For 
two  years  at  Caesarea  he  had  been  kept  in  military  custody. 
During  his  voyage  he  had  been  on  an  intimate  footing  with 
the  centurion  Julius,  and  after  his  arrival  at  Rome  he  had 
made  many  friends  among  the  pretorian  guards.  Now, 
though,  as  we  have  seen,  he  embraced  the  opportunity  thus 
furnished  him  for  teaching  the  Gospel  to  the  soldiers,  we  are 
sure  that  he  also  availed  himself  of  the  facility  thus  afford- 
ed him  for  acquiring  information  concerning  military  ac- 
coutrements and  discipline,  and  the  use  to  which  he  turned 
that  knowledge  is  apparent  in  these  verses :  "  Wherefore 
take  unto  you  the  whole  armor  of  God,  that  ye  may  be  able 
to  withstand  in  the  evil  day,  and  having  done  all,  to  stand. 
Stand  therefore,  having  your  loins  girt  about  with  truth,  and 
having  on  the  breastplate  of  righteousness ;  and  your  feet 
shod  with  the  preparation  of  the  gospel  of  peace ;  above  all, 
taking  the  shield  of  faith,  wherewith  ye  shall  be  able  to 
quench  all  the  fiery  darts  of  the  wicked.     And  take  the  hel- 

*  Eph.ii.,  20-22. 
22" 


5IO  Paul  the  Missionary. 

met  of  salvation,  and  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the 
word  of  God."*  Thus,  like  his  Master,  Paul  drew  his  illus- 
trations from  the  objects  that  were  before  the  eyes  of  his 
readers,  and  from  the  experiences  through  which  he  was 
daily  passing;  and  so  his  words  were  full  of  the  liveliest 
interest  as  giving  distinctness  to  his  thought,  and  making 
it  memorable. 

The  last  of  the  epistles  of  the  imprisonment  that  remain 
to  us  was  that  to  the  Philippians,  which  must  be  dated  near 
the  close  of  the  two  years'  residence  at  Rome  to  which  Luke 
refers.f  This  is  evident  from  the  references  which  it  makes 
to  Epaphroditus,  as  well  as  from  those  which  it  contains  to 
the  results  of  Paul's  labors  in  the  imperial  city.  It  appears 
that  Epaphroditus  had  come  to  Rome  from  Philippi  bearing 
a  present,  probably  of  money,  from  the  brethren  there  to  the 
apostle.  It  is  further  evident  that  while  he  was  at  Rome 
Epaphroditus  was  prostrated  by  an  illness  which,  for  a  time, 
filled  the  heart  of  Paul  with  anxiety.  Now,  as  the  apostle 
speaks  of  this  beloved  brother  as  having  been  "  full  of  heav- 
iness," because  the  Philippians  had  heard  of  his  sickness, $ 
it  follows  that  some  communication  had  gone  from  Rome 
to  Philippi  concerning  him,  and  also  that  some  report  had 
been  brought  back  again  from  Philippi  to  .Rome.  But,  in 
those  days  of  comparatively  slow  travel,  that  would  require 
some  months ;  and  so,  if  we  allow  that  Epaphroditus  first 
came  to  Rome  near  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  Paul's  im- 
prisonment, then  the  second  year  must  have  been  consid- 
erably advanced  before  he  set  out  on  his  return  with  this 
letter.      Again,  the  effects  from   Paul's  efforts  among  the 

*  Eph.  vi.,  13-17. 

t  Farrar,  following  Lightfoot,  makes  the  letter  to  the  Philippians  the 
earliest  of  the  four ;  but  his  arguments  do  not  shake  the  position  taken 
by  others  like  Alford,  Ellicott,  and  Meyer. 

t  Phil,  ii.,  26. 


The  Epistles  of  the  Imprisonment.  511 

soldiers  were  such  as  needed  time  for  their  development. 
From  the  nature  of  the  case  they  could  not  have  been  im- 
mediate, for  they  were  the  consequence  of  patient,  plodding 
perseverance  from  day  to  day  in  dealing,  not  with  large  au- 
diences but  with  individual  men.  So  we  are  constrained  to 
date  this  letter  as  near  as  possible  to  the  end  of  the  second 
year  of  Paul's  imprisonment.  And  when  we  have  arrived 
at  that  conclusion  we  have  at  once  an  explanation  of  the 
uncertain  manner  in  which  he  refers  in  it  to  the  issue  of 
his  appeal.  In  writing  to  the  Colossians  and  Ephesians 
he  says  that  he  has  sent  Tychicus  to  them  that  he  might 
"comfort  their  hearts."  That  meant  that  he  could  cheer 
them  by  telling  them  of  his  comparative  welfare,  and  of  his 
hope  of  release.  But  in  this  letter  to  the  Philippians  he  is 
not  sure  whether  Christ  is  to  be  magnified  in  his  body  by 
life  or  by  death.*  Now,  when  we  remember  that  Burrus, 
the  good  prefect,  died  about  the  end  of  the  second  year  of 
his  imprisonment,!  and  that  Nero  was  just  then  under  the 
influence  of  Poppsa,  who  had  become  a  Jewish  proselyte, 
and  had  already  favored  the  Jews  so  far  as  .to  plead  for 
them  against  Agrippa,  we  may  understand  this  change  in 
the  apostle's  forecast  of  the  immediate  future,  and  how  it 
came  that  his  hopes  as  to  the  result  of  his  case  began  to 
sink,  and  he  found  himself  in  that  singular  dilemma,  in  a 
strait  betwixt  two,  yet  having  a  desire  to  depart  and  be 
with  Christ.  But  although  there  is  such  uncertainty  as  to 
the  issue  of  his  appeal,  there  is  no  abatement  of  his  joy  of 
heart  in  Christ,  nor  any  shrinking  in  his  spirit  from  the  or- 
deal of  martyrdom.  This  is  at  once  the  tenderest  and  the 
cheeriest  of  his  letters.  He  loved  the  Philippians  very  ear- 
nestly.    They  had  been  very  kind  to  him.    They  had,  in  the 

*  Phil,  i.,  21. 

t  Lewin  puts  the  death  of  Burrus  in  a.d.  62.     See  Lewin,  ii.,  361. 


512 


Paul  the  Missionary. 


main,  walked  after  his  ensample.  No  teacher  of  error  had 
obtained  a  foothold  among  them,  and  so  his  words  to  them 
are  mostly  those  of  commendation ;  or  if  he  does  refer  to 
the  fact  that  there  were  some  even  among  them  who  were 
"  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ,"  he  does  so  with  tears  and 
in  a  spirit  of  gentleness."^  For  the  rest,  all  he  can  say  to 
them  is  "stand  fast;"  nay,  that  is  not  all,  for  again  and 
again  he  bids  them  "rejoice;"  and  when  he  assures  them 
that  "  the  peace  of  God  will  keep  their  hearts  and  minds  " 
as  the  result  of  simple,  prayerful,  and  grateful  trust  in  God, 
we  cannot  doubt  that  he  is  reading  to  them  from  the  record 
of  his  own  experience.  The  sunshine  of  God's  favor  illu- 
minates every  page  of  this  precious  letter ;  and  if,  in  addi- 
tion to  its  doctrinal  importance,  that  to  the  Galatians  is  spe- 
cially valuable  for  the  information  which  it  furnishes  in  re- 
gard to  the  external  facts  of  the  apostle's  life,  this  is  un- 
speakably dear  to  us  for  the  glimpses  which  it  gives  us  into 
his  heart. 

Thus  have  I  sought  to  set  before  you  some  particulars 
of  interest  in  regard  to  each  of  these  four  letters.  I  have 
put  them  in  their  true  biographic  setting,  without  attempt- 
ing anything  like  a  formal  analysis,  far  less  a  running  expo- 
sition of  their  contents;  but  yet  knowing  full  well  that  an 
acquaintance  with  the  facts  which  I  have  mentioned  will 
enable  you  more  clearly  to  understand  and  more  thoroughly 
to  appreciate  the  treasures  of  wisdom  which  they  contain. 
And  now,  before  we  part,  let  me  give  expression  to  one  or 
two  thoughts  of  a  practical  sort,  suggested  by  our  subject 
for  this  evening. 

Observe,  then,  in  the  first  place,  the  converging  of  circum- 
stances which,  under  the  providence  of  God,  brought  Onesi- 
mus  and  Paul  together  in  Rome.     The  apostle  had  most 

*  Phil,  iii.,  i8. 


The  Epistles  of  the  Imprisonment.  513 

probably  known  Philemon  as  a  visitor  to  him  when  he  was 
living  at  Ephesus,  and  had  then  learned  to  take  an  interest 
in  him  and  in  the  church  in  his  house ;  but  we  cannot  tell 
whether  or  not  he  then  came  into  contact  with  Onesimus. 
We  may  be  sure,  however,  that  whether  the  slave  ever  saw 
Paul  or  not,  he  would  be  permitted  and  encouraged  to  at- 
tend on  the  religious  services  which  were  regularly  held  un- 
der his  master's  roof.  Yet  he  was  not  converted  then.  On 
the  contrary,  he  grew  worse,  and  to  escape  the  consequences 
of  theft  he  made  his  way  to  Rome.  There  he  fell,  some- 
how, into  the  hands  of  Paul,  and  through  him  was  convert- 
ed. Now,  how  frequently  similar  cases  have  occurred  !  I 
am  reminded  especially  of  the  conversion  of  Augustine. 
He  had  gone  astray  into  vicious  indulgence  and  ruinous 
error,  and  pierced  the  heart  of  his  mother  with  many  a  sor- 
row. But  she  continued  to  pray  for  him ;  and  learning  that 
he  was  about  to  leave  Carthage,  she  extracted  a  promise 
from  him  that  he  would  not  go.  That  pledge,  however, 
being  dishonestly  given,  was  speedily  broken,  and  he  went 
to  Rome,  greatly  to  her  distress,  since  her  main  hope  for 
him  lay  in  her  influence  over  him.  Still  she  continued  to 
make  supplication  for  him,  and  at  length,  passing  from 
Rome  to  Milan,  he  was  there  converted  to  the  faith.  So, 
not  seldom,  one  running  away  from  restraint  is  met  by  the 
grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  and  sent  back  a  new  creature.  It 
may  be  that  there  is  here  to-night — who  can  tell  ?  God  know- 
eth — some  poor  runaway^  who,  in  a  freak  of  adventure,  or 
fit  of  temper,  or  under  the  influence  of  some  sudden  temp- 
tation, has  fled  from  his  father's  house  and  come  to  this 
great  city.  Let  the  history  of  Onesimus  come  home  to  him 
now.  Ah !  you  cannot  run  away  from  God.  He  has  over- 
taken you  here ;  and  the  wonderful  thing  is,  that  he  is  here 
in  mercy  and  not  in  judgment,  in  love  and  not  in  punish- 
ment.     Will  you  open  your  heart  to  him  now,  and,  trans- 


514  Paul  the  Missionary. 

formed  by  the  renewing  of  your  mind,  will  you  not  go  back 
to  your  earthly  home,  to  gladden  it  with  the  evidence  that 
you  have  been  born  again  ? 

Observe,  in  the  second  place,  the  wisdom  with  which  Paul 
managed  this  difficult  case.  He  sent  back  Onesimus,  but 
he  did  so  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  no  sanction  to  slavery ; 
for  he  asked  that  he  should  be  received  as  a  brother — nay, 
as  Philemon  would  have  received  the  apostle  himself.  That 
last  qualification  carried  in  it  a  condemnation  of  the  whole 
system  of  slavery;  while  the  sending  of  him  back  at  all 
saved  Paul  from  coming  into  collision  with  the  Roman  law. 
If  he  had  directly  opposed  slavery  he  would  have  provoked 
the  bondsmen  to  rebellion,  and  brought  his  own  usefulness 
at  once  to  an  end;  for  just  at  the  date  at  which  he  was 
writing  Pedanius  Secundus  was  killed  by  one  of  his  slaves, 
and  in  accordance  with  the  law  the  whole  number  of  slaves 
belonging  to  him,  amounting  to  a  vast  multitude,  and  includ- 
ing many  women  and  children,  were  put  to  death,  although 
they  were  confessedly  innocent  of  all  participation  in  the 
crime.*  Now,  a  fact  like  that  shows  the  state  of  the  law 
and  the  temper  of  the  times  in  regard  to  slavery;  and 
therefore  Paul,  viewing  it  as  a  result  of  something  behind 
itself,  endeavored  to  deal  with  the  cause,  confident  that 
when  that  was  removed  the  effect  would  cease.  But  is  he 
on  that  account  to  be  regarded  as  a  partisan  of  slavery? 
Nay,  verily.  He  did  here  as  in  other  cases.  He  dealt  in 
positive  principles,  and  left  them  to  make  their  own  way. 
He  did  not  denounce  slavery,  but  he  enforced  Christian 
brotherhood,  and  that  was  the  most  effectual  means  of  ex- 
pelling slavery.  He  did  not  grasp  at  paltry  results  because 
they  were  near  and  immediate;  but  he  put  the  leaven  of 
Christian  love  into  the  mass,  heedless  of  the  fact  that  it 

*  See  Howson,  vol.  ii.,  p.  390,  fiofe. 


The  Epistles  of  the  Imprisonment.  515 

was  hidden  there  for  the  time,  but  confident  also  that  it 
would  work  its  way  out  until  every  slave  on  earth  shall  be 
set  free.  In  a  similar  spirit  let  us  endeavor  to  counteract 
the  evils  of  our  times.  That  which  seems  the  shortest  way 
to  a  reform  is  oftentimes  the  longest  in  the  end ;  and  the 
surest  means  of  success  will  be  found  in  the  wise  enforce- 
ment of  those  great  principles  of  love,  and  liberty,  and  ho- 
liness which  centre  in  the  Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Finally,  we  may  observe  here  how  much  the  grace  of  the 
Lord  can  do  to  sustain  his  servants  in  tribulation.  Paul 
was  a  prisoner,  yet  his  heart  was  full  of  peace  ;  and  the  joy 
which  he  commended  to  others  was  constantly  experienced 
by  himself.  There  is  no  whimpering  in  these  letters,  but  in- 
stead the  calm  assurance  of  one  who  knew  that  for  him  "to 
live  "  was  "  Christ,"  and  "to  die"  was  "gain."  Nor  was  it 
his  gift  of  miraculous  inspiration  that  held  him  up.  He  was 
supported  by  that  gracious  aid  which  is  offered  to  us  as 
freely  as  it  was  to  him,  and  which  may  be  possessed  by  us 
as  fully  as  it  was  by  him.  To  show  you  that  this  is  indeed 
the  case,  let  me  place  before  you  a  specimen  of  what  I  may 
call  the  prison  literature  of  the  Christian  Church.  I  pass 
over  the  age  of  the  first  persecutions  and  begin  my  search 
at  the  era  immediately  preceding  the  Reformation.  The 
noble  Savonarola,  whose  name  has  given  to  Florence  a 
grander  lustre  than  the  glory  of  the  Medicis,  during  his 
month  of  imprisonment  before  his  execution  wrote  his  com- 
mentaries on  the  thirty -first  and  fifty -first  psalms,  which 
show  that,  though  he  had  much  spiritual  conflict,  neither 
his  faith  nor  his  comfort  yielded."*  The  gentle  Anne  As- 
kew, who  was  burnt  at  Smithfield  for  holding  that  in  the 
Lord's  Supper  the  bread  after  consecration  remained  bread, 

*  Mackenzie's  "  Imperial  Dictionary  of  Universal  Biography,"  vol.  iii., 
p.  729. 


5i6  Paul  the  Missionary. 

wrote,  on  the  night  before  she  suffered,  that  beautiful  poem 
which  contains  these  lines  :* 

"  Like  as  an  armed  knight 
Appointed  to  the  field, 
With  this  world  will  I  fight, 
And  faith  shall  be  my  shield. 

"  Faith  is  that  weapon  strong 
Which  will  not  fail  at  need ; 
My  foes  therefore  among 
Therewith  will  I  proceed. 

"  I  now  rejoice  in  heart, 
And  hope  bids  me  do  so, 
That  Christ  will  take  my  part 
And  ease  me  of  my  woe." 

The  valiant  William  Tyndale,  to  whom  more  than  any  other 
one  man  we  owe  our  English  Bible,  wrote,  during  his  im- 
prisonment at  Vilvorde,  to  the  governor  of  the  castle,  asking 
for  some  articles  of  dress,  in  a  style  that  reminds  us  of 
Paul's  request  that  Timothy  should  bring  his  cloak  from 
Troas ;  and  then  goes  on  to  say,  "  But  above  all  I  entreat 
and  beseech,  your  clemency  to  be  urgent  with  the  procureur 
that  he  may  kindly  permit  me  to  have  my  Hebrew  Bible, 
Hebrew  Grammar,  and  Hebrew  Dictionary,  that  I  may  spend 
my  time  with  my  study."t  Thus  to  the  last  he  upheld  him- 
self by  the  performance  of  the  work  to  which  he  had  dedi- 
cated his  life,  and  the  Bible  that  we  read  to-day  was  in  great 
part  the  fruit  of  his  imprisonment.  Ridley,  who  stood  at 
the  stake  with  Latimer,  wrote,  in  the  interval  between  his 
condemnation  and  execution,  a  long  "  farewell  to  all  his  true 
\ • 

*  "  Our  Christian  Classics,"  by  Dr.  James  Hamilton,  vol.  i.,  pp.  45, 46. 

t  "  Life  of  Tyndale,"  by  Demaus,  p.  476.  Eadie's  **  The  English 
Bible,"  vol.  i.,  211. 


The  Epistles  of  the  Imprisonment.  517 

and  noble  friends  in  God,"  which  contains  these  sentences : 
"  I  warn  you  all,  my  well-beloved  kinsfolk  and  countrymen, 
that  ye  be  not  amazed  or  astonished  at  the  kind  of  my  de- 
parture or  dissolution,  for  I  assure  you  I  think  it  is  the 
greatest  honor  that  ever  I  was  called  unto  in  all  my  life. 
For  you  know  I  no  more  doubt  but  that  the  causes  where- 
fore I  am  put  to  death  are  God's  causes  and  the  causes  of 
truth,  than  I  doubt  that  the  gospel  which  John  wrote  is  the 
Gospel  of  Christ,  or  that  Paul's  epistles  are  the  very  Word 
of  God."*  And  only  a  short  time  before,  the  Lady  Jane 
Grey,  in  sending,  on  the  eve  of  her  execution,  her  Greek 
Testament  to  her  sister,  wrote  :  "  I  am  assured  that  I  shall 
for  the  losing  of  a  mortal  life  find  an  immortal  felicity,  the 
which  I  pray  God  grant  you  and  enable  you  of  his  grace  to 
live  in  his  fear  and  die  in  the  true  Christian  faith,  from  the 
which,  in  God's  name,  I  exhort  you  that  you  never  swerve, 
neither  for  hope  of  life  nor  fear  of  death."t  The  well-known 
hymn  beginning  "  Jerusalem,  my  happy  home,"  was,  in  one 
of  its  many  versions,  composed  by  Francis  Baker  while  a 
prisoner  in  the  Tower  of  London ;$  and  in  the  same  fortress, 
in  a  cell  which  is  still  shown  to  visitors.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
composed  his  "  History  of  the  World,"  and  wrote  some 
poems,  of  which  the  following  lines  may  be  taken  as  a  spec- 
imen :§ 

"  Rise,  O  my  soul,  with  thy  desires,  to  heaven, 

And  with  divinest  contemplation  use 
Thy  time,  where  time's  eternity  is  given. 

And  let  vain  thoughts  no  more  thy  thoughts  abuse, 
But  down  in  midnight  darkness  let  them  lie  ; 
So  live  thy  better,  let  thy  worse  thoughts  die. 

*  "  Our  Christian  Classics,"  vol.i.,  p.  63. 

t  Ibid.,  vol.  1.,  p.  49. 

X  "  Hymn-writers  and  their  Hymns,"  by  S.  W.  Christophers,  p.  118. 

§  "  Evenings  with  the  Sacred  Poets,"  by  Frederick  Saunders,  p.  223. 


5i8  Paul  the  Missionary. 

**  And  thou,  my  soul,  inspired  with  holy  flame, 

View  and  review,  with  most  regardful  eye, 

That  holy  Cross,  whence  thy  salvation  came  ; 

On  which  thy  Saviour  and  thy  sin  did  die  ; 

For  in  that  sacred  object  is  much  pleasure, 

And  in  that  Saviour  is  thy  life,  thy  treasure." 

Everybody  knows  that  John  Bunyan's  "Pilgrim's  Progress" 
was  the  fruit  of  his  labors  in  Bedford  jail;  and  as  the  joy- 
bells  of  the  New  Jerusalem  kept  ringing  in  his  ears  he  for- 
got the  vileness  of  the  "  cage  "  wherein  he  was  confined. 
Not  so  well  known,  at  least  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  are 
the  letters  of  Samuel  Rutherford,  so  unique  for  their  "  unc- 
tion and  holy  rapture,  breathing  a  spirit  of  such  devotion 
as  if  he  had  been  a  seraph  incarnate,  and  Ailed  with  such 
transport  as  if  he  had  been  caught  up  to  the  third  heaven." 
Yet  many  of  them  were  written  from  Aberdeen,  to  which 
city  he  had  been  confined  by  the  Court  of  High  Commis- 
sion. George  Wither,  the  Puritan  poet,  whose  quaint  motto  • 
was,  "  I  grow  and  wither,  both  together,"  had  a  checkered 
career,  and  many  of  his  best  pieces  were  composed  while 
he  was  in  prison.  One  of  them,  entitled  "  A  Prison  Medi- 
tation," has  preserved  his  experiences  for  us.  I  give  only 
two  stanzas  from  it : 

*'  While  here  I  bide,  though  I  unworthy  be, 
Do  thou  provide  all  needful  things  for  me  ; 
And  though  friends  grow  unkind  in  my  distress, 
Yet  leave  not  thou  thy  servant  comfortless. 

"  So,  though  in  thrall  my  body  must  remain. 
In  mind  I  shall  some  freedom  still  retain  ; 
And  wiser  made  by  this  restraint  shall  be 
Than  if  I  had,  until  my  death,  been  free."* 

Who  has  not  heard  of  the  hymns  of  Madame  Guyon  in  sim- 
*  "  Hymn-writers  and  their  Hymns,"  p,  129. 


The  Epistles  of  the  Imprisonment.  510 

ilar  circumstances  ?  or  who,  having  once  read,  can  ever  for- 
get these  thrilling  lines  : 

"  My  cage  confines  me  round, 

Abroad  I  cannot  fly  ; 
But  though  my  wing  is  closely  bound, 

My  heart's  at  liberty. 
My  prison  walls  cannot  control 
The  flight,  the  freedom  of  the  soul." 

James  Montgomery,  whose  hymns  have  often  borne  our 
hearts  in  loving  devotion  up  to  God,  wrote  a  whole  volume  of 
"Prison  Amusements  "  while  he  was  confined  in  York  Castle, 
the  victim  of  political  injustice;  and  the  hymn  beginning 
"  Spirit,  leave  thy  house  of  clay,"  was  composed  by  him  in 
the  same  place,  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  one  of  his 
fellow-prisoners,  who  with  seven  others  had  suffered  the  loss 
of  all  worldly  goods,  for  conscience'  sake.  And,  to  men- 
tion no  more,  what  an  interesting  record  is  that  of  the  im- 
prisonment in  Burmah  of  the  sainted  Judson  for  two  years, 
during  which  he  solaced  himself  with  Christian  songs,  and 
composed  the  beautiful  paraphrase  of  the  Lord's  Prayer 
commencing  "  Our  Father  God,  who  art  in  heaven!" 

Now,  I  have  not  brought  these  instances  before  you  mere- 
ly as  a  matter  of  literary  interest,  but  I  wish  you  to  take 
note  of  the  cheerful  tone  which  pervades  them  all;  and 
then,  when  you  have  done  that,  I  will  ask  you  to  read  the 
melancholy  lines  written  by  the  Roman  poet  Ovid  during 
his  banishment;  and  the  letters  of  Cicero  during  his  exile. 
Of  these  last  one  of  the  biographers  of  the  great  Roman 
orator  says  it  would  have  been  better  for  his  reputation  if 
they  had  been  burnt ;  and  another  avers  that  they  show 
a  "pusillanimity  which  it  is  humiliating  to  contemplate."* 
The  same  thing  has  come  out  in  the  prison  experiences  of 

*  See  Forsyth's  "  Life  of  Cicero,"  vol.  i.,  pp.  240-248. 


520  Paul  the  Missionary. 

many  others  in  modern  times  who,  being  "  without  God," 
were  also  "  without  hope  "  in  the  world.  Now,  how  shall 
we  account  for  this  difference  ?  Simply  by  the  sustaining 
grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  There  is  no  other  adequate  ex- 
planation. One  of  the  greatest  triumphs  of  modern  horol- 
ogy is  the  construction  of  a  chronometer  with  a  compen- 
sation balance  which  keeps  it  moving  at  the  same  rate  in 
every  temperature.  What  that  balance  is  to  the  timepiece 
the  grace  of  God  is  to  the  believer's  heart.  It  gives  him 
equanimity  in  all  experiences.  It  makes  prosperity  safe, 
and  adversity  salutary  for  him.  It  puts  for  him  a  rainbow 
into  every  cloud.  It  opens  for  him  a  fountain  in  every  wil- 
derness. It  gives  to  him  a  song  for  every  night.  Why, 
then,  should  we  refuse  the  blessing  which  it  brings  ? 


XXVIII. 

THE  PASTORAL  EPISTLES.— SECOND  IMPRIS- 
ONMENT  AND  MARTYRDOM. 

THE  letters  to  Timothy  and  Titus  have  many  things 
in  common.  They  were  called  forth  by  the  imperfectly 
organized  condition  of  the  first  Christian  societies,  and  were 
addressed  by  Paul  to  those  whom  he  had  associated  with 
him  in  the  work  of  planting  and  training  the  early  churches. 
They  belong  to  the  same  stage  of  ecclesiastical  develop- 
ment; there  is  great  similarity  of  style  between  them;  and 
there  is  a  recurrence  in  them  all  of  the  same  forms  of  ex- 
pression. These  things  combine  to  make  it  morally  certain 
that  they  were  all  produced  about  the  same  date  j  and  as 
the  references  to  his  approaching  martyrdom  contained  in 
the  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy  fix  the  writing  of  that  near 
the  close  of  his  career,  it  follows  that  all  the  three  must  be 
regarded  as  belonging  to  the  last  stage  of  the  apostle's  his- 
tory. But  when  we  come  to  the  question  when  his  career 
did  close,  we  encounter  the  difficult  problem  of  the  second 
imprisonment,  to  which  it  is  indispensable  that  we  give  some 
attention. 

It  is  universally  admitted  that  Paul  was  put  to  death  at 
Rome  as  the  result  of  a  judicial  trial  before  Nero.  But  it 
is  contended  by  some  that  his  execution  was  the  conse- 
quence of  his  appeal  from  Caesarea.  These  critics  hold 
that,  although  in  the  early  part  of  his  imprisonment  he  was 
treated  with  great  leniency,  yet  he  was  afterward  condemn- 
ed without  having  had  any  opportunity  of  leaving  the  city 


522  Paul  the  Missionary. 

from  the  time  of  his  first  arrival  in  it  till  that  of  his  mar- 
tyrdom. Others,  however,  believe  that  at  the  end  of  the 
two  years  referred  to  by  Luke*  the  apostle  was  set  at  liber- 
ty, and  that,  after  some  time  spent  in  travelling  and  preach- 
ing both  in  the  East  and  in  the  West,  he  was  again  appre- 
hended under  some  plausible  charge,  taken  to  Rome,  con- 
demned and  executed,  near  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Nero. 
After  patient  investigation  of  the  arguments  on  both  sides 
I  have  adopted  the  last-mentioned  opinion,  and  I  will  try  to 
set  before  you  now,  as  clearly  and  briefly  as  possible,  the 
reasons  which  have  mainly  led  me  to  this  determination. 
They  are  connected  with  particular  statements  in  the  let- 
ters to  which  to-night  our  attention  is  to  be  directed ;  and 
you  will  have  the  best  conception  of  their  importance  if  we 
take  them  in  order. 

Turn  with  me,  then,  to  the  first  chapter  of  First  Timothy, 
and  at  the  third  verse  you  will  read,  "  As  I  besought  thee  to 
abide  still  at  Ephesus,  when  I  went  into  Macedonia" — a 
clause  which  implies  that,  shortly  before  this  letter  was  writ- 
ten, Paul  and  Timothy  had  been  together  at  Ephesus,  and 
that  Paul,  having  to  leave  for  Macedonia,  besought  Timothy 
to  remain  behind  him  for  a  special  purpose.  Where,  then, 
can  we  put  this  simultaneous  presence  of  Paul  and  Timothy 
in  Ephesus,  followed  by  the  departure  of  Paul  into  Mace- 
donia, and  the  continued  sojourn  of  Timothy  at  Ephesus? 
Very  clearly  we  find  no  place  for  it  in  the  history  recorded 
in  the  nineteenth  chapter  of  The  Acts ;  for  though  we  read 
there  of  Paul's  leaving  Ephesus  for  Macedonia,  he  then 
sent  Timothy  on  before  him,t  "but  he  himself  stayed  in 
Asia  for  a  season."  It  is  supposed  by  some,  indeed,  that 
after  Paul  had  arrived  in  Macedonia  he  sent  Timothy  back 
to  Ephesus;  but,  not  to  insist  on  the  obvious  fact  that  send- 

*  Acts  xxviii.,  30.  t  Acts  xix.,  22. 


Second  Imprisonment  and  Martyrdom.         523 

ing  him  back  to  the  city  is  different  from  beseeching  him 
to  abide  still  in  it,  there  is  evidence  that  Timothy  was  with 
Paul  all  through  his  journeyings  in  Greece  and  Macedonia 
at  that  time,  for  he  is  mentioned  in  the  salutation  of  the 
Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  which  was  written  then ; 
and  he  is  expressly  named  among  those  who  accompanied 
him  on  his  voyage  from  Greece  to  Cassarea.*  We  cannot, 
therefore,  put  this  request  to  Timothy  to  remain  in  Ephesus 
into  the  history  covered  by  Luke's  nineteenth  chapter  of 
The  Acts.  Moreover,  it  is  exceedingly  improbable  that  it 
could  have  been  made  before  the  date  of  Paul's  interview 
with  the  Ephesian  elders  at  Miletus.  Two  considerations 
lead  us  to  that  conclusion :  first,  the  fact  that  the  apostle's 
address  on  that  occasion  contains  no  allusion  to  the  labors 
of  Timothy  at  Ephesus,  as  it  would  almost  certainly  have 
done  if  they  had  been  performed  before  that  date;  and 
second,  the  important  item  that  the  condition  of  the  church 
of  Ephesus,  described  in  the  Epistle  to  Timothy,  is  very 
different  from  that  indicated  in  the  discourse  at  Miletus. 
In  the  latter,  indeed,  the  apostle  refers  to  troubles ;  but 
they  were  troubles  that  would  arise,  and  not  heresies  and 
immoralities  that  had  arisen.  In  the  former,  however,  we 
are  made  to  feel  that  the  great  reason  for  Timothy's  abiding 
in  Ephesus  was  that  he  might  counteract  evils  that  had 
recently  developed  themselves  among  the  disciples  there. 
That  which  was  prophecy  in  the  address  had  become  his- 
tory before  the  letter  was  written;  and  so  we  are  constrain- 
ed to  date  the  time  when  Paul  left  Timothy  behind  him  in 
Ephesus  after  the  meeting  with  the  elders  at  Miletus.  But 
if  we  put  it  after  that  interview,  there  is  no  place  for  it  at  all, 
unless  we  find  one  for  it  in  the  era  after  his  two  years'  im- 
prisonment at  Rome.     For  from  Miletus  he  went  to  Jerusa- 

*  Acts  XX.,  4. 


524  Paul  the  Missionary. 

lem,  whence  he  was  taken  as  a  prisoner  to  Caesarea,  in  which 
for  two  years  he  was  held  by  Felix,  and  from  which  he  was 
forwarded  to  Rome.  Clearly,  therefore,  we  must  infer  that 
if  he  ever  visited  Ephesus  subsequently  to  his  interview 
with  the  elders  at  Miletus,  such  a  visit  must  have  been 
made  after  his  two  years  in  Rome. 

There  are  only  two  objections  to  this  view  which  have 
importance  enough  to  justify  allusion  to  them.  The  first  is 
founded  on  the  apostle's  strong  language  at  Miletus :  "  Now, 
behold,  I  know  that  ye  all,  among  whom  I  have  gone  preach- 
ing the  kingdom  of  God,  shall  see  my  face  no  more  ;"*  which, 
it  is  alleged,  furnishes  conclusive  evidence  that  he  never 
afterward  visited  Ephesus.  But  that  may  be  taken  merely 
as  the  expression  of  a  dark  presentiment;  and,  if  it  be  so 
regarded,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  supposing  that  it  was  fal- 
sified by  the  event.  In  any  case  we  have  another  saying, 
equally  strong,  in  his  letter  to  the  Philippians,  on  the  other 
side,  which  must  have  been  falsified  if  he  was  never  set  at 
liberty,  for  thus  he  writes  :  "  And  having  this  confidence,  I 
know  that  I  shall  abide  and  continue  with  you  all  for  your 
furtherance  and  joy  of  faith."t  We  have  thus  a  choice  be- 
tween the  two ;  or  rather  the  two  balance  each  other,  and 
leave  us  to  settle  the  question  entirely  on  other  grounds. 
The  second  objection  springs  from  the  fact  that,  in  the  first 
letter  to  Timothy,  Paul  speaks  of  his  son  in  the  faith  as  still 
a  young  man — so  young  a  man,  indeed,  that  there  was  need 
of  the  exhortation,  "Let  no  man  despise  thy  youth;"  where- 
as if  these  words  were  not  written  till  the  year  67  or  68,  Tim- 
othy must  have  been  thirty-four  or  thirty-five  years  of  age.l-' 
But  to  this  we  reply  that  youth  is  a  relative  term ;  and  that, 
considering  the  work  with  which  he  was  intrusted,  Timothy 
even  at  thirty-five  could  not  but  be  regarded  as  young.    He 

*  Acts  XX.,  25.  t  Phil,  i.,  25.  X  See  Howson,  vol.  ii.,  p.  552. 


Second  Imprisonment  and  Martyrdom.         525 

was  to  exercise  control  over  the  elders  and  superintend  the 
election  and. ordination  of  new  office-bearers;  and  all  who 
know,  or  have  had  experience  of  the  jealousy  with  which, 
alike  in  Church  and  State,  those  are  still  regarded  who  are 
simply  guilty  of  what  Pitt  once  sarcastically  called  "  the 
atrocious  crime  of  being  a  young  man,"  will  quite  under- 
stand the  pertinence  of  Paul's  words  to  Timothy,  even  if 
we  admit  that  he  had  attained  the  age  of  thirty-five. 

There  is  not  much,  therefore,  in  either  of  these  objec- 
tions ;  and  the  evidence  in  behalf  of  the  view  we  have 
adopted  is  vastly  increased  when  we  open  the  Second  Epis- 
tle to  Timothy.  By  common  consent  that  is  regarded  as 
the  latest  of  Paul's  letters.  When  he  wrote  it  he  had  been 
already  once  before  the  imperial  court,  and  had  been  ac- 
quitted on  the  first  charge  brought  against  him ;  but  he  had 
no  expectation  of  being  ultimately  set  free,  and  was  daily 
looking  martyrdom  in  the  face.  Now,  we  have  in  it  refer- 
ences to  journeys  as  then  recent,  which  we  cannot  identify 
with  any  of  his  travels  before  his  apprehension  at  Jerusa- 
lem. Look,  for  example,  at  these  words  :*  "  The  cloak  that 
I  left  at  Troas  with  Carpus,  bring  with  thee,  and  the  books, 
but  especially  the  parchments."  Now,  if  this  was  sent  dur- 
ing an  imprisonment  which  lasted  from  his  seizure  at  Jeru- 
salem until  his  execution  at  Rome,  then  it  is  easy  to  show 
that  Paul  had  not  been  in  Troas  for  at  least  six  years  before 
the  date  at  which  he  was  writing,  and  as,  during  that  inter- 
val, many  of  his  friends  with  whom  he  was  in  constant  com- 
munication had  been  going  to  and  fro  between  Europe  and 
Asia,  it  is  marvellous  that  he  should  not  have  received  these, 
articles  long  before.  If,  however,  we  suppose  that  he  was 
released  from  imprisonment,  and  then  went  to  Philippi, 
Troas,  Colosse,  and  Ephesus,  as  from  many  hints   let  fall 


2  Tim.  iv.,  13. 
23 


526  Paul  the  Missionary. 

in  his  letters,  considered  by  us  in  our  last  lecture,  he  evi- 
dently meant  to  do ;  and  if  he  was  again  appr^iended  after 
that  journey  and  carried  to  Rome,  the  whole  thing  becomes 
natural. 

.  Look,  also,  at  these  words:*  "  Erastus  abode  at  Corinth: 
but  Trophimus  have  I  left  at  Miletum  sick."  Now,  if  he 
wrote  thus,  during  that  imprisonment  of  which  we  have  the 
beginning  in  the  book  of  The  Acts,  then  it  becomes  impos- 
sible to  reconcile  the  statement  here  made  with  the  account 
which  Luke  has  given  of  his  travels ;  for  the  last  time  Paul 
was  at  Miletus  before  his  apprehension  at  Jerusalem  was 
when  he  met  the  elders  of  Ephesus  there ;  and  though  Troph- 
imus was  certainly  present  on  that  occasion,  he  was  not  left 
behind  him  sick,  but  v/ent  up  along  with  him  to  the  Holy 
City;  for  it  was  the  sight  of  him  with  Paul  in  the  city  which 
made  the  Jews  suppose  that  he  had  taken  Gentiles  into  the 
Temple,  and  provoked  the  riot  which  was  put  down  .only  by 
the  intervention  of  the  chief  captain  of  the  castle.f  Hence 
the  time  when  Paul  left  Trophimus  at  Miletum  sick  must 
have  been  distinct  from,  and  subsequent  to,  that  when  he 
met  the  Ephesian  elders  there ;  and  if  so,  it  must  be  placed 
after  his  release  from  Rome,  since  it  cannot  be  put  anywhere 
between  his  farewell  to  the  elders  and  his  arrival  at  Rome. 
The  arguments  drawn  from  these  definite  statements  in 
the  letters  to  Timothy  are  greatly  strengthened  when  we 
look  at  the  condition  of  things  in  the  churches  which  they 
indicate.  It  is  clear  that  a  great  change  had  come  over  the 
Asiatic  Christians  as  regarded  their  feelings  toward  the 
apostle,  for  he  says,!  "  This  thou  knowest,  that  all  they  which 
are  in  Asia  be  turned  away  from  me."  Now,  if  his  impris- 
onment continued  unbroken,  and  no  visit  was  paid  by  him 
to  Asia  after  he  wrote  his  letters  to  the   Colossians  and 

*  2  Tim.  iv.,  20.  t  Acts  xxi.,  29.  J  2  Tim.  i.,  15. 


Second  Imprisonment  and  Martyrdom.         527 

Ephesians,  it  becomes  impossible  to  account  for  this  altera- 
tion or  rather  alienation.  But  if,  on  visiting  these  churches, 
he  found  false  doctrines  promulgated,  and  immoral  practices 
indulged  in, by  prominent  individuals  among  them;  and  if 
he  sternly  rebuked  those  who  v/ere  guilty  of  such  disloyalty 
to  Christ,  we  can  easily  understand  how  it  came  that  Phy- 
gellus,  Hermogenes,  and  the  rest  had  turned  away  from 
him.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  also,  that  such  a  visit  to  Asia 
seems  to  have  been  contemplated  by  him  when  he  wrote 
the  epistles  of  the  imprisonment.  Thus  he  says  to  Phile- 
mon,^ "  But  withal  prepare  me  also  a  lodging :  for  I  trust 
that  through  your  prayers  I  shall  be  given  unto  you  "  and 
to  the  Philippians,t  "But  1  trust  in  the  Lord  that  I  also 
myself  shall  come  shortly."  It  thus  appears  that  it  was  his 
intention  to  visit  the  cities  of  Asia  after  he  was  released ; 
and  that  in  these  churches,  as  described  in  the  epistles  to 
Timothy,  there  were  such  changes  as  such  a  visit  alone  could 
account  for,  so  that  we  are  led  to  the  conclusion  that  he  was 
released,  and  carried  out  the  purpose  which  he  had  formed 
regarding  them. 

The  same  inference  is  suggested  by  the  passage  in  Titus 
i.,  5,  "  For  this  cause  left  I  thee  in  Crete."  Thus  Paul 
writes  to  Titus  in  Crete  shortly  after  he  himself  had  been 
with  his  coadjutor  there.  Now,  remembering  that  this  letter 
confessedly  belongs  to  the  latest  stage  of  the  apostle's  his- 
tory, we  ask  with  confidence  where  we  can  find  a  place  for 
this  visit  to  Crete,  unless  we  believe  that  it  was  made  after 
his  release  from  imprisonment,  and  before  he  was  again  ap- 
prehended ?  So,  without  regard  to  tradition,  and  solely  on 
the  ground  of  the  evidence  which  may  be  distilled  from  the 
pastoral  epistles  themselves,  I  have  adopted  the  view  that, 
shortly  after  the  time  at  which  Luke's  narrative  in  The  Acts 

*  Philem.  22.  t  Phil,  ii.,  24. 


528  Paul  the  Missionary. 

concludes,  Paul  was  set  at  liberty  by  Neroj  and  that  after 
an  interval  of  four  or  five  years'  duration  he  was  again  car- 
ried to  Rome  as  a  prisoner  and  put  to  death. 

As  to  the  doings  of  the  apostle  in  this  interval  between 
these  two  imprisonments  we  have  to  rely  entirely  on  the 
hints  which  we  get  from  the  letters  to  Timothy  and  Titus ; 
and  any  theory  regarding  them  must  be  mainly  conjectural ; 
but  the  view  of  Dean  Alford  commends  itself  to  me  as 
exceedingly  probable.  That  painstaking  investigator  says, 
"  We  suppose  the  apostle  on  his  hearing  and  liberation, 
which  cannot  have  taken  place  befpre  the  spring  of  the  year 
A.D,  6;^^  to  have  journeyed  eastward,  visiting  perhaps  Philip- 
pi,  which  lay  on  the  great  Egnatian  Road  to  the  east,  and 
passing  into  Asia.  There,  in  accordance  with  his  former 
desires  and  intentions,  he  would  give  Colosse  and  Laodicea 
and  Hierapolis  the  benefits  of  his  apostolic  counsel,  and 
confirm  the  brethren  in  the  faith ;  and  there  perhaps,  as 
before,  he  would  fix  his  head-quarters  at  Ephesus."  Other 
journeys  —  among  them,  perhaps,  that  to  Spain  —  seem  to 
have  occupied  three  or  four  years.  From  Ephesus,  leaving 
Timotheus  there,  he  went  into  Macedonia,  where  some  think 
the  First  Epistle  to  Timothy  was  written ;  "  but  the  words, 
'  I  besought  thee  to  remain  in  Ephesus,  as  I  went  into  Mace- 
donia,' seem  to  show  that  the  sojourn  in  Macedonia  was 
over,  and  that  he  was  now  elsewhere — where  we  cannot  pre- 
sume to  say.  In  some  place,  evidently,*  where  he  was  like- 
ly to  be  detained  beyond  his  expectations,  which  circum- 
stance strengthened  his  desire  to  send  this  letter  of  warning 
and  exhortation  and  direction  to  his  son  in  the  faith. "f 

On  this  epistle  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  enter  at  any 


*  I  Tim.  iii.,  14,  15. 

t  Alford's    "  Greek   Testament,"    vol.  iii. ;    "  Prolegomena,"  p.  95  ; 

How  to  Study  the  New  Testament,"  vol.  iii.,  p.  38. 


Second  Imprisonment  and  Martyrdom.         529 

length.  Paul  writes  in  it  throughout  as  an  old  man.  We  do 
not  find  in  it  the  passionate  intensity  which  there  is  in  that 
to  the  Galatians,  or  the  systematic  arrangement  which  char- 
acterizes those  to  the  Romans  and  Ephesians ;  but  he  writes 
with  informal  earnestness  about  those  matters  in  which  he 
was  most  deeply  interested,  and  which  he  had  committed  to 
the  care  of  Timothy.  His  allusion  to  his  past  history  are 
not  numerous,  but  they  are  just  such  as  we  should  expect  a 
man  verging  toward  the  limit  of  threescore  years  and  ten 
to  make.  What,  for  example,  could  be  more  touching  than 
the  references  in  the  first  chapter  to  his  early  life,  and  the 
mercy  shown  him  in  his  conversion  to  Christ  ?  or  what  more 
suggestive  of  his  paternal  care  over  Timothy  than  his  coun- 
sels to  him  in  the  matter  of  his  health  ?  Every  thoughtful 
reader  will  note  in  it  the  tender  affection  of  Paul  for  Timo- 
thy; the  earnest  solicitude  which  he  felt  for  the  welfare 
of  the  Church  of  Christ  upon  the  earth ;  the  jealous  watch 
which  he  kept  over  the  great  central  truths  of  the  Gospel ; 
the  signal  wisdom  which  he  manifested  in  the  advice  w^hich 
he  gives  to  Timothy  alike  for  the  regulation  of  his  own  per- 
sonal conduct  and  for  the  guidance  of  the  Church;  and  the 
solemn  iteration  with  which  before  God  and  the  Lord  Jesus 
he  charged  the  young  evangelist  to  observe  everything  which 
he  enjoined.  No  young  man  can  peruse  it  without  coming 
into  contact  with  great  principles  which  are  as  important  to- 
day as  when  they  were  first  expressed ;  and  no  minister  of 
the  Gospel  can  neglect  it,  without  depriving  himself  of  much 
that  is  invaluable  for  the  right  discharge  of  the  duties  to 
which  he  has  been  set  apart.  Nay,  in  an  age  when  charity 
in  the  faith  is  in  danger  of  degenerating  into  latitudinarian- 
ism,  and  liberty  in  the  Church  seems  by  many  to  be  devel- 
oped into  license,  we  may  all  learn  valuable  lessons  from 
this  pre-eminently  practical  and  plain-spoken  letter. 

Somewhere  about  the  time  at  which  this  First  Epistle  to 


530  Paul  the  Missionary. 

Timothy  was  written  Paul  seems  to  have  made  a  visit  to 
Crete  in  company  with  Titus.  Judging  of  his  character  from 
the  tenor  of  Paul's  letter  to  him,  Titus  would  appear  to  have 
been  one  of  the  shrewdest  and  most  trusted  of  Paul's  fel- 
low-laborers ;  but  it  is  somewhat  surprising  that  we  should 
have  so  little  direct  information  concerning  one  who  stood 
so  high  in  the  confidence  of  the  apostle.  We  hear  of  him 
first  at  Jerusalem  ;*  the  next  time  he  comes  into  prominence 
he  is  the  messenger  of  Paul  to  Corinth  at  a  critical  junc- 
ture in  the  history  of  the  Church  in  that  city;t  and  now  he 
is  referred  to  as  intrusted  by  the  apostle  with  the  perfecting 
of  the  organization  of  the  churches  there  by  the  ordination 
of  elders  in  every  city.  In  the  Second  Epistle  to  Timothyt 
he  is  mentioned  as  having  left  Paul ;  and  as  his  name  with 
those  of  others  occurs  in  connection  with  the  mention  of 
Demas,  it  is  supposed  by  some  that  he  deserted  the  apostle, 
and  is  blamed  by  them  accordingly.  I  cannot  bring  myself 
to  adopt  any  such  view.  He  had  not,  perhaps,  the  tender- 
ness of  heart  which  so  endeared  Timothy  to  Paul,  but  he 
had  a  more  self-reliant  spirit,  and  was  apparently  well-fitted 
for  the  work  which  Paul  had  left  him  in  Crete  to  perform. 
The  churches  there  must  have  been  in  an  embryonic,  if  not 
also  a  chaotic  state  ;  and  the  letter  of  Paul  to  Titus  contains 
instructions  for  their  complete  arrangement,  and  directions 
for  his  own  conduct,  as  well  as  a  thorough  condemnation  of 
the  errors  in  doctrine  and  evils  in  practice  which  had  made 
their  appearance  among  the  converts  to  whom  he  minis- 
tered. It  is  nervous  in  style,  slightly  rugged  and  abrupt  in 
expression,  and  signally  decided  in  tone.  It  is,  besides, com- 
prehensive in  its  scope ;  for,  brief  though  it  be,  it  contains 
maxims  of  importance  for  ail  ages,  and  abounds  in  epi- 
grammatic phrases  as  pungent  as  they  are  wise.     It  is  like 

*  Gal.  ii.,  3.  t  2  Cor.  ii.,'  13  ;  vii.,  6.  t  2  Tim.  iv.,  10. 


^Second  Imprisonment  and  Martyrdom.         531 

all  Paul's  letters  in  the  prominence  which  it  gives  to  the 
Cross  of  Christ;  and  if  any  one  imagines  that  zeal  for  doc- 
trine is  fatal  to  good  works,  we  commend  to  him  the  study 
of  this  pithy  epistle. 

It  was  probably  written  from  some  place  in  Asia  Minor; 
but,  in  any  case,  when  Paul  despatched  it  he  intended  to  go 
to  Nicopolis"*  for  the  winter.  There  were  many  cities  of 
that  name  in  the  ancient  world;  but  the  general  opinion  is 
that  Paul  refers  to  that  in  Epirus,  which  was  founded  by 
Augustus  in  commemoration  of  his  victory  at  Actium.  It 
may  be  said  to  have  arisen  out  of  the  ruins  of  the  surround- 
ing cities,  whose  inhabitants  were  compelled  to  migrate  to 
the  new  capital.  It  was  made  a  Roman  colony;  and  so,  as 
a  citizen  of  Rome,  the  apostle  would  be  more  secure  from 
violence  there  than  he  would  have  been  in  some  other 
places,  though,  just  because  it  was  a  colony,  he  would  be 
also  more  open  to  direct  hostile  assault  from  parties  plot- 
ting against  him  in  the  metropolis. 

Here,  as  it  seems  to  me,  we  must  put  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  if  we  adopt  the  opinion — to  which  I  own  I  am  in- 
clined— that  it  was  written  by  Paul.  It  is  anonymous,  and 
has  been  ascribed  to  Luke,  to  Apollos,  and  to  Barnabas  as 
well  as  to  Paul.  The  question  is  not  one  of  pre-eminent 
importance,  because  the  canonical  authority  of  the  letter  is 
generally  conceded  even  by  those  who  are  inclined  to  disbe- 
lieve that  it  was  written  by  Paul ;  and  all  are  ready  to  ad- 
mit that  its  spirit  and  arguments  are  distinctively  Pauline, 
so  that,  as  Howson  has  put  it,  "  it  represented  the  views,  and 
was  impregnated  by  the  influence,  of  the  great  apostle."t 
It  must  be  granted  that  in  some  respects  it  is  very  different 
from  the  acknowledged  writings  of  Paul ;  but  then,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  evident  to  every  student  that  in  the  struct- 

*  Titus  iii.,  12.  t  Howson,  vol.  ii.,  p.  515. 


532  Paul  the  Missionary. 

ure  of  its  main  argument;  in  the  manner  in  which  the  writer 
reasons  from  the  Old  Testament;  and  in  the  importance 
which  he  attaches  to  the  grace  of  faith,  it  is  nearly  akin  to 
some  of  Paul's  well-accredited  letters,  notably  to  that  to  the 
Galatians.  I  do  not  undertake  to  dogmatize  on  a  question 
on  each  side  of  which  great  and  worthy  names  are  arrayed ; 
but,  taking  it  for  granted  that  the  epistle  is  the  work  of  Paul, 
I  may  give  a  simple  summary  of  its  contents.  It  is  address- 
ed to  Hebrew  Christians  who,  under  the  pressure  of  perse- 
cution— which,  however,  had  not  yet  been  unto  death — were 
tempted  to  apostatize  from  the  Gospel  and  go  back  to  Ju- 
daism. To  show  them  the  folly  of  such  a  course,  the  writer 
dwells  on  the  superiority  of  Jesus  to  the  angels,  through 
whose  instrumentality  the  law  was  given;  to  Moses,  who  was 
the  mediator  of  the  old  covenant;  and  to  Aaron,  who  was  the 
high-priest  of  the  former  dispensation.  Under  the  last  of 
these  heads  he  demonstrates  the  pre-eminence  of  the  priest- 
hood of  Christ,  from  the  consideration  of  the  order  to  which 
it  belonged;  the  sanctuary  in  which  it  is  exercised;  the 
victim  which  it  offered ;  and  the  perpetuity  by  which  it  is 
distinguished.  Then,  having  thus  fortified  his  position,  he 
enlarges  on  the  folly  and  danger  of  going  back  from  the 
real  to  the  typical,  and  after  an  eloquent  historical  illustra- 
tion of  the  nature  and  effects  of  faith,  and  a  consolatory 
chapter  on  the  benefits  of  affliction,  he  concludes  with  a 
series  of  pertinent  practical  exhortations.  The  letter  gives 
us  the  key  for  the  unlocking  of  the  meaning  of  the  ancient 
ritual,  and  shows  us  how  Christ  came  not  to  destroy  the  law 
but  to  fulfil  it;  while  the  passage  on  faith  forms  a  beau- 
tiful companion  to  that  on  love  in  the  First  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  and  that  on  hope  in  the  eighth  chapter  of  the 
Romans ;  so  that,  taken  together,  they  bring  before  us  the 
three  abiding  graces  of  the  Christian  character. 

But  now  we  approach  the  last  chapter  in  the  great  apos- 


Second  Imprisonment  and  Martyrdom.         533 

tie's  life,  and  we  find  him  again  a  prisoner  in  Rome;  but  he 
is  in  closer  custody  than  before,  for  by  this  time  the  Chris- 
tians had  fallen  on  evil  days  and  evil  tongues  in  the  impe- 
rial city.  The  members  of  the  new  sect  were  no  longer 
confounded,  as  at  first,  with  the  Jews,  for  through  the  un- 
scrupulousness  of  Nero  a  terrible  distinctness  had  been 
given  to  them  in  the  popular  mind.  In  the  summer  of 
A.D.  64  a  fearful  conflagration,  which  lasted  for  days  togeth- 
er, destroyed  a  large  part  of  the  metropolis,  and  Nero,  who 
had  been  accused  of  having  set  fire  to  the  city,  threw  the 
whole  blame  of  it  upon  the  Christians.  The  whole  story  is 
told  by  Tacitus,  who  says :  "  But  neither  these  religious  cere- 
monies, nor  the  liberal  donations  of  the  prince,  could  efface 
from  the  minds  of  men  the  prevailing  opinion  that  Rome 
was  set  on  fire  by  his  own  orders.  The  infamy  of  that  hor- 
rible transaction  still  adhered  to  him.  In  order,  if  possible, 
to  remove  the  imputation  he  determined  to  transfer  the  guilt 
to  others.  For  this  purpose  he  punished  with  exquisite  tor- 
ture a  race  of  men  detestable  for  their  evil  practices,  by 
vulgar  appellation  called  Christians."  Then  after  a  state- 
ment about  Christianity  which  shows  how  little  its  charac- 
ter was  known  as  yet  by  the  cultured  Romans,  he  contin- 
ues: "Nero  proceeded  with  his  usual  artifice.  He  found  a 
set  of  profligate  and  abandoned  wretches,  who  were  induced 
to  confess  themselves  guilty;  and  on  the  evidence  of  these 
men  a  number  of  Christians  were  convicted,  not,  indeed, 
upon  clear  evidence  of  their  having  set  fire  to  the  city,  but 
rather  on  account  of  their  sullen  hatred  of  the  whole  hu- 
man race.  They  were  put  to  death  with  exquisite  cruelty; 
and  to  their  sufferings  Nero  added  mockery  and  derision. 
Some  were  covered  with  the  skins  of  wild  beasts  and  left 
to  be  devoured  by  dogs.  Others  were  nailed  to  the  cross; 
numbers  were  burnt  alive;  and  many,  covered  over  with 
inflammable  substances,  were  lighted  up  when  the  day  de- 

23* 


534  Paul  the  Missionary. 

clined  to  serve  as  torches  during  the  night.  For  the  con- 
venience of  seeing  this  tragic  spectacle  the  emperor  lent 
his  own  gardens.  He  added  the  sports  of  the  circus  and 
assisted  in  person,  sometimes  driving  a  curricle,  and  occa- 
sionally mixing  with  the  rabble  in  a  coachman's  dress.  At 
length  the  cruelty  of  these  proceedings  filled  every  breast 
with  compassion.  Humanity  relented  against  the  Chris- 
tians; for  it  was  evident  that  they  fell  a  sacrifice  not  for  the 
good  of  mankind,  but  to  glut  the  rage  of  one  man  alone."* 
These  barbarities  had  been  perpetrated  some  considerable 
time  before  Paul  went  to  Nicopolis;  but  still,  even  then, 
as  a  leader  of  a  sect  which  had  been  accused  of  such  a 
crime  as  the  burning  of  Rome,  he  would  be  most  obnoxious 
to  those  in  authority,  and  any  pretext  would  be  sufficient 
for  his  apprehension.  We  cannot  tell  where  he  was  seized, 
or  for  what :  we  only  know  that  when  he  wrote  his  second 
letter  to  Timothy  he  was  again  a  prisoner — this  time,  how- 
ever, under  accusation  as  an  evil-doer,t  and  under  cir- 
cumstances of  greater  hardship  than  before.  So  rigid,  in- 
deed, was  his  seclusion,  that  it  was  only  after  diligent  search 
that  Onesiphorus  was  able  to  discover  him;J  and  so  bitter 
was  the  cold  to  which  he  was  exposed  in  his  place  of  con- 
finement— said  by  tradition  to  be  the  Mamertine — that  he 
earnestly  desired  the  cloak  which  he  had  left  in  the  warmer 
climate  of  Troas.§  Most  of  his  companions  were  away. 
Demas  had  deserted  him  on  some  personal  and  worldly 
errand.  Crescens  and  Titus  had  gone  on  urgent  missions, 
the  one  to  Thessalonica  and  the  other  to  Dalmatia.  Tychi- 
cus  had  been  sent  to  Ephesus.  Only  the  ever-true  and  ten- 
der Luke II  was  with  him.     Timothy  was  in  Asia  Minor,  and 


*  Murphy's  "Tacitus,  Annals,"  ch, xv.,  p. 44. 

t  2  Tim.  ii.,  9.  J  2  Tim.  i.,  16, 17. 

§  2  Tim.iv.,  13.  II  2  Tim.  iv.,  10, 11. 


Second  Imprisonment  and  ^Iartyrdom.         535 

the  heart  of  the  venerable  man  of  God  went  out  in  lon2:ino: 
after  hnTi,so  that  he  wrote  this  touching  letter,  urging  him  to 
come  to  him  as  soon  as  possible.  And  yet,  even  as  he  made 
that  request,  it  was  doubtful  to  him  whether  his  dear  son  in 
the  faith  would  reach  the  city  in  time  to  see  him.  Already 
he  had  been  before  the  court  on  the  first  accusation  which 
had  been  brought  against  him ;  alone,  he  had  stood  before 
the  bar — and  yet  not  alone,  for,  unseen  by  mortal  eyes,  his 
Lord  was  with  him,  and  strengthened  him  so  that  he  was 
delivered  for  that  time.  But  he  had  no  hope  of  ultimate 
release ;  and  so  he  pours  out  his  heart  to  his  much-loved 
correspondent  in  a  strain  of  tenderness  rising  evermore  to 
one  of  transport.  The  letter  was  written  on  the  threshold 
of  the  unseen — on  the  border-land  of  the  life  that  is  beyond 
— and  though  it  has  in  it  the  same  prominence  of  Jesus 
and  his  Cross,  the  same  prudence  in  counsel,  and  the  same 
uncompromising  thoroughness  in  the  condemnation  of  evil 
which  we  find  in  all  his  epistles,  it  is  especially  noteworthy 
for  the  references  which  it  contains  to  his  feelings  under 
the  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed.  Let  me  quote  a 
few  of  these :  "  For  the  which  cause  I  also  suffer  these  things : 
nevertheless  I  am  not  ashamed ;  for  I  know  whom  I  have 
believed,  and  am  persuaded  that  he  is  able  to  keep  that 
which  I  have  committed  unto  him  against  that  day.  There- 
fore I  endure  all  things  for  the  elect's  sake,  that  they  may 
also  obtain  the  salvation  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  with  eter- 
nal glory.  It  is  a  faithful  saying :  For  if  we  be  dead  with 
him,  we  shall  also  live  with  him :  if  we  suffer,  we  shall  also 
reign  with  him.  I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered,  and  the 
time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand.  I  have  fought  a  good 
fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith : 
henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness, 
which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  me  at  that 
day:  and  not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all  them  also  that  love 


536  Paul  the  Missionary. 

his  appearing.  The  Lord  shall  deliver  me  from  every  evil 
work,  and  will  preserve  me  unto  his  heavenly  kingdom :  to 
whom  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen."*  Comment  on 
these  words  would  only  mar  their  force.  Let  them  stand 
alone,  in  the  sunlight  of  their  own  glorious  trust ! 

We  know  not  whether  Timothy  reached  Rome  in  time  to 
cheer  the  last  hours  of  the  apostle ;  but  before  many  weeks 
had  passed  he  was  led  out  beyond  the  city  walls  on  the  road 
to  Ostia ;  and  there,  within  sight  of  that  monumental  pyra- 
mid which  still  stands  to  the  memory  of  Caius  Cestus,.he 
fell  before  the  headsman's  sword.  The  dust  of  no  nobler 
Christian  hero  sleeps  beneath  the  sod.  Time,  that  effaces 
from  the  records  of  humanity  the  names  of  other  men,  has 
only  chiselled  his  into  deeper  relief;  and  the  older  the 
world  grows,  its  inhabitants  grow  only  more  earnest  and 
appreciative  in  their  admiration  of  his  character  and  work. 
In  the  systematizing  of  Christian  doctrine,  and  the  organ- 
izing of  the  Christian  Churchy  he  did,  under  the  guidance  of 
God's  Spirit,  more  than  all  others — with  the  possible  excep- 
tion, so  far  as  doctrine  is  concerned,  of  the  Apostle  John; 
and  after  his  divine  Master's,  no  influence  has  been  more 
powerful  than  his  in  making  and  moulding  the  history  of 
the  Christian  centuries.  Uniting  in  himself  on  earth  the 
apostle,  the  prophet,  and  the  martyr,t  he  is  now  in  heaven 
one  of  the  leaders  of  that  trinity  among  the  redeemed — the 
glorious  company,  the  goodly  fellowship,  and  the  noble  army 
— who  praise  God  in  his  temple.  But  why  should  I  utter 
another  word  in  this  strain?  What  cah  my  feeble  "well 
done  "  add  to  the  renown  of  him  who,  eighteen  hundred 
years  ago,  received  his  commendation  warm  and  living 
from  the  lips  of  his  ascended  Lord  ? 

*  2  Tim.  i.,  12  ;  ii,,  10-12  ;  iv.,  6-8,  18. 
t  See  Howson,  vol.  ii.,  p.  505. 


Second  Imprisonment  and  Martyrdom.         537 

I  have  time  now  for  little  more  than  the  mention  of  one 
or  two  reflections  suggested  by  certain  things  which  have 
come  out  in  the  course  of  our  investigations  this  evening. 
And,  in  the  first  place,  a  comparison  of  the  state  of  things 
in  the  Asiatic  churches,  as  indicated  in  the  ejDistles  to  Tim- 
othy, with  that  described  in  the  letters  to  the  Ephesians  and 
Colossians,  will  show  how  error  entering  in  through  the  door 
of  curious  and  useless  speculation  ultimately  degenerates 
into  immorality.  They  tell  us  in  many  quarters  to-day  that 
doctrinal  soundness  has  no  connection  with  practical  holi- 
ness; but  the  study  of  these  epistles  will  convince  every 
candid  reader  that  in  religious  declension  one  of  two  things 
is  sure  to  happen.  Either  false  doctrine  will  deteriorate 
character,  or  impure  conduct  will  make  shipwreck  of  the 
faith.  They  act  and  react  on  each  other.  Faith  is  the 
substratum  of  life;  so  that  a  man  will  be  as  he  believes, 
and  will  believe  as  he  lives.  A  disobedient  life  will  ulti- 
mately undermine  even  a  sound  creed;  for  when  a  good 
conscience  is  put  away,  men  will  make  shipwreck  concern- 
ing the  faith.*  There  is  no  security  for  us,  therefore,  save 
in  humble  faith  in  that  which  Christ  has  revealed  to  us, 
and  cheerful  obedience  to  that  which  he  has  commanded 
us.  If  the  root  of  the  tree  die,  then  very  soon  every  branch 
on  it  will  wither;  but  on  the  other  hand  when  even  the 
topmost  boughs  begin  to  decay,  that  is  evidence  that  the 
root  is  already  affected  with  disease.  Similar  is  the  rela- 
tion between  doctrine  and  life ;  they  are  not  so  much  two 
things  as  one,  and  both  are  influenced  by  that  which  viti- 
ates either. 

Again,  the  contrast  between  Onesiphorus,  who  sought 
Paul  very  diligently  until  he  found  him,  and  was  not 
ashamed  of  his  chain, f  and  the  Asiatics  generally,  who  had 

*  I  Tim.  i.,  19.  t  2  Tim.  i.,  16, 17. 


538  Paul  the  Missionary. 

turned  away  from  him,*  reminds  us  that  adversity  is  the 
real  test  of  friendship.  Wlien  honors  are  flowing  in  upon 
us,  and  we  have  little  need  of  kindness,  many  will  make 
protestations  of  regard  for  us;  but  when  the  tide  has  gone 
down,  and  things  are  at  the  ebb  with  us,  we  shall  discover 
that  most  of  these  professions  have  been  forgotten,  and 
that  we  are  forsaken  and  almost  alone.  The  men  who,  like 
swallows,  come  twittering  round  us  in  the  summer  of  our 
prosperity,  will  mostly  leave  us  in  the  winter  of  our  afflic- 
tion. But  all  are  not  of  this  fair-weather  sort.  Some,  like 
Luke  and  Onesiphorus,  will  be  faithful  to  the  very  last,  and 
will  come  only  closer  to  us  because  of  our  chain.  These 
are  friends  indeed,  because  they  are  friends  in  need.  Noth- 
ing winnows  our  friendships  like  a  gusty  trial ;  but  blessed 
be  God  it  is  the  chaff  that  is  blown  away.  The  wheat  re- 
mains, to  be  to  us  the  type  and  similitude  of  Him  who  is 
a  "friend  that  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother." 

For,  finally,  we  may  learn  from  Paul's  last  letter  how  true 
the  Saviour  is  in  our  times  of  adversity.  "  At  my  first  an- 
swer," says  Paul,  "no  man  stood  with  me, but  all  men  forsook 
me :  notwithstanding  the  Lord  stood  with  me,  and  strength- 
ened me."t  He  is  never  so  near  his  people  as  when  they 
are  suffering  for  his  sake ;  and  the  severer  our  hardships  are 
the  stronger  always  is  his  consolation.  Behold  how  the  ex- 
perience of  years  gave  an  accumulated  residuum  of  strength 
to  the  apostle's  faith.  When  he  journeyed  to  Damascus 
he  cried,  "  Who  art  thou.  Lord  ?"  but  when  he  was  about  to 
die,  he  exclaimed,  "  I  know  whom  I  have  believed  !"  What 
a  history  lies  between  these  two  utterances  !  A  certain  de- 
gree of  knowledge  is  needed  to  the  exercise  of  intelligent 
faith;  but  then,  the  life  of  faith  steadfastly  maintained  in- 
creases the  knowledge,  and  that  again  gives  ground  for  yet 

*  2  Tim.  i.,  15.  1   2  Tim.  iv.,  16,  17. 


Second  Imprisonment  and  Martyrdom.         539 

stronger  confidence.  Paul  proved  the  Lord  at  Damascus, 
and  that  gave  hmi  courage  at  Jerusalem ;  then  he  passed  up 
and  up  through  the  Lystra  assault,  and  the  Ephesian  riot,  and 
the  Caesarea  imprisonment,  and  the  Maltese  shipwreck,  and 
his  first  experiences  at  Rome,  until  he  reached  that  lofty 
landing-place  whereon  he  contemplated  martyrdom  without 
a  quiver.  Not  all  at  once,  by  one  spasmodic  and  emotional 
bound,  did  he  attain  the  serene  altitude  of  this  sublime  as- 
surance :  he  reached  it  after  the  climbing  of  a  lifetime ;  and 
he  reasoned  that  He  who  had  been  with  him  through  thirty 
years  of  life,  with  their  hardships  and  dangers,  would  not 
desert  him  in  death.  "I  know  w^hom  I  have  believed!" 
Oh,  it  is  a  grand  thing  to  know  Christ  well  before  we  come 
to  die,  for  then  the  last  enemy  is  unstinged.  Do  you  know 
him  ?  If  not,  come  now  and  acquaint  yourself  vrith  him. 
Trust  him  from  this  good  hour,  that  you  may  have  daily  ex- 
perience of  his  grace,  and  the  more  of  such  experience  you 
have  the  stronger  will  be  your  assurance  in  the  end. 


XXIX. 

SUCH  A  ONE  AS  PAUL. 

"Be  ye  followers  of  me,  even  as  I  also  am  of  Christ." — i  Cor.xu,  i. 

PAUL  has  repeatedly  affirmed  in  his  writings  that  he 
preached  not  himself,  but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord ;  and 
some  may  suppose  that  the  injunction  which  I  have  just 
read  is  inconsistent  with  that  assertion.  But  when  we  look 
narrowly  into  the  words  we  discover  that  it  is  not  to  himself, 
so  much  as  to  the  relation  which  he  bore  to  his  Master,  that 
he  here  directs  attention.  Others  may  imagine  that,  as  we 
have  in  Christ  himself  a  perfect  pattern,  we  need  not  con- 
cern ourselves  with  any  lower  ensample.  But  such  an  opin- 
ion betrays  a  shallow  philosophy,  and  a  meagre  knowledge 
of  human  nature  ;  for  we  require  not  only  to  have  a  perfect 
model,  but  also  to  be  shown  how  we  are  to  set  about  its 
imitation.  Moreover,  valuable  as  the  example  of  Christ  is, 
both  from  its  perfection  and  its  many-sidedness,  it  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  there  are  Christian  experiences  which  find 
no  precise  parallel  in  any  chapter  of  his  history,  and  in  which, 
therefore,  we  need  just  the  kind  of  help  which  comes  from 
the  disciple,  rather  than  from  the  Lord ;  or,  to  put  it  more 
correctly,  which  comes  from  the  Lord  through  the  disciple. 
Thus,  there  was  nothing  in  Jesus  corresponding  to  the  great 
change  which  we  call  conversion ;  neither  was  there  in  him 
anything  approaching  to  that  inward  struggle  between  the 
new  man  and  the  old,  with  which  every  believer  is  familiar. 
Now,  it  is  here  that  the  value  of  such  an  example  as  that  of 


Such  a  One  as  Paul.  541 

Paul  comes  conspicuously  into  view ;  and  we  are  not  to  be 
accused  of  putting  the  Master  into  the  shade,  while  in  this 
department  we  look  at  the  servant.  If  we  were  to  confine 
our  attention  to  the  servant,  indeed,  we  should  dwarf  our 
spiritual  growth ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  if  we  were  to  look 
at  the  Master,  without  reference  to  his  servants  and  their 
strivings  after  his  holiness,  I  fear  that  we  might  soon  be 
overwhelmed  with  humiliation,  or  sink  into  despair.  Look- 
ing at  them  both,  however,  w^e  find  that  the  necessities  of 
our  nature  are  fully  met.  In  Christ  we  behold  the  perfect 
plan  of  the  character  which  we  have  to  build;  in  Paul  we 
see  the  workman  in  the  act  of  rearing  it.  In  Christ  we 
have  the  finished  statue,  with  its  exquisite  proportions  and 
its^  delicate  lines  of  beauty ;  in  Paul  we  have  the  sculptor 
hewing  at  the  rude  block  of  his  daily  life  in  the  noble  effort 
to  reproduce  its  excellence.  In  Christ  we  have  perfection ; 
in  Paul  we  have  imperfection  striving,  by  the  help  of  God's 
Spirit,  after  the  perfect.  Hence,  in  looking  at  the  servant 
we  are  in  no  danger  of  forgetting  the  Master,  because  the 
one  great  feature  in  the  servant  was  the  steadfastness  with 
which  he  looked  to  the  Master,  and  the  earnestness  with 
which  he  sought  ever  to  attain  "  the  measure  of  the  stature 
of  the  fulness  of  Christ."  . 

Let  us,  then,  bearing  these  things  in  mind,  bring  this 
series  of  discourses  to  a  close,  with  an  attempt  to  gather 
into  one  view  the  prominent  qualities  of  Paul's  character. 
I  do  not  undertake  to  give  you  an  outside  portrait  of  the 
man,  by  describing  to  you  his  personal  appearance,  because, 
with  all  deference  to  those  who  think  differently,  I  believe 
that  there  are  no  particulars  certainly  known  about  that. 
Neither  do  I  seek  now  to  analyze  his  intellectual  abilities ; 
since,  in  my  descriptions  of  his  addresses  and  epistles,  I 
have  already  endeavored  to  set  these  before  you  with  dis- 
tinctness.    But  my  concern  at  present  is  with  his  moral 


542  Paul  the  Missionary. 

qualities ;  and  my  aim  will  be  to  give  such  prominence  to 
the  chief  of  these  as  will  help  us  at  once  to  understand 
and  imitate  his  greatness. 

First  of  all,  as  lying  largely  at  the  root  of  his  pre-emi- 
nence, I  name  his /conscientiousness.'}  Even  before  his  con- 
version to  Christianity  this  was  the  controlling  principle  of 
his  character.  "He  reverenced  his  conscience  as  his  king." 
When  he  believed  that  he  ought  to  do  anything,  he  went 
forthwith  and  did  it.  If  you  wanted  to  enlist  him  in  any 
cause,  all  you  had  to  do  was  to  convince  him  that  it  was  his 
duty  to  identify  himself  with  it,  and  then  his  conscience  car- 
ried him  over  to  it.  When  he  "  persecuted  the  church  of 
God  and  wasted  it,"  he  did  so,  not  to  glut  any  personal 
cruelty,  or  to  gratify  any  private  revenge,  but  because  he 
verily  believed  he  was  doing  God  service.*  When,  again, 
he  was  convinced  by  the  appearance  of  Jesus  to  him  on  the 
way  to  Damascus  that  he  was  fighting  against  God,  he  gave 
up  in  a  moment  his  commission  from  the  chief  priests,  and 
transferred  his  allegiance  to  Christ.t  And  all  through  his 
Christian  career  he  acted  invariably  on  the  same  principle. 
His  was  no  vain  boast  when  he  said  to  the  members  of  the 
Jewish  council,  "  Men  and  brethren,  I  have  lived  in  all  good 
conscience  before  God  until  this  day/'t  and  again,  to  Fe- 
lix, "  Herein  do  I  exercise  m3^self,  to  have  always  a  con- 
science void  of  offence  toward  God  and  toward  men."§  In 
the  same  spirit  he  wrote  to  the  Corinthians,  "  Our  rejoicing 
is  this,  the  testimony  of  our  conscience,  that  in  simplicity 
and  godly  sincerity,  not  with  fleshly  wisdom,  but  by  the 
grace  of  God,  we  have  had  our  conversation  in  the  world, 
and  more  abundantly  to  you-ward."||  And  in  his  latest  let- 
ter he  says,  "  I  thank  God,  whom  I  serve  from  my  forefa- 

*  Acts  xxvi.,  9-1 1.  t  Acts  ix.,  1-9.  t  Acts  xxiii.,  i. 

S  Acts  xxiv.,  16.  II  2  Cor.  i.,  12. 


Such  a  One  as  Paul.  543 

thers  with  a  pure  conscience."*  Thus  from  first  to  last  he 
acted  from  principle.  He  did  always  and  only  that  which 
in  his  conscience  he  believed  to  be  right.  Nor  was  this  ac- 
complished by  him  without  effort.  He  "  exercised  "  him- 
self to  do  it.  The  word  is  very  strong.  It  is  that  which  is 
employed  to  describe  the  exertions  of  the  athlete  to  gain 
the  prize;  and  its  full  force  is,  that  he  trained  himself  and 
strained  himself  with  all  his  might  to  keep  his  conduct  al- 
ways abreast  of  his  convictions.  No  matter  what  it  cost  him 
in  the  way  either  of  effort  or  of  sacrifice,  he  would  hold  a 
good  conscience.  Whether  he  lost  a  post  of  conspicuous 
political  importance  or  was  thrown  into  prison  was,  in  his 
estimation,  of  small  moment,  in  comparison  with  "  the  tes- 
timony of  a  good  conscience." 

Now,  in  all  this  he  is  worthy  of  our  earnest  imitation. 
The  temptation  of  these  days  is  to  play  fast  and  loose  with 
conscience,  and  to  act  from  motives  of  self-interest  or  self- 
indulgence,  or  on  the  extemporaneous  impulse  of  emotion, 
rather  than  from  moral  conviction.  There  are,  of  course, 
both  noble  and  numerous  exceptions;  but  the  tendency,  I 
fear,  is  to  sneer  at  the  conscientious  man  as  a  tight-laced 
stickler,  and  to  hold  him  in  derision  as  a  fool,  if  not  to  de- 
spise him  as  a  narrow-minded  bigot.  The  consequences  of 
such  a  state  of  opinion  are  sure  to  be  disastrous ;  for  there 
is  more  to  be  feared  from  the  dethroning  of  conscience  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people,  than  from  the  setting  up  of  some 
external  evil  in  the  midst  of  them.  And,  on  the  other  hand, 
there  is  more  hope  of  the  man  who-  is  acting  from  convic- 
tion, even  if  he  should  be  in  the  wrong,  than  there  is  of  the 
unprincipled  libertine.  He  is  "  not  far  from  the  kingdom 
of  God ;"  and,  acting  up  to  the  light  which  he  enjoys,  he  will 
obtain  more  light.     The  horizon  will  widen  as  he  ascends 

*  2  Tim.  i.,  3. 


544  Paul  the  Missionary. 

the  hill,  and  he  will  become  clearer  and  more  comprehen- 
sive in  his  views.  The  new  revelation  may  not  always 
come  with  such  suddenness  as  it  burst  upon  the  apostle, 
but  it  will  come;  for  if  but  the  "eye"  be  "single,"  the 
whole  body  will  ultimately  be  "full  of  light."  Let  this, 
then,  be  the  first  lesson  we  learn  from  Paul — always  to  be 
loyal  to  conscience.  Let  the  deciding  question  on  every 
occasion  be  with  us,  not  will  it  pay  ?  or  will  it  please  ?  or 
will  it  be  safe  ?  or  will  it  bring  honor  ?  but  is  it  right  ?  "  To 
the  upright  light  ariseth  in  darkness;"  and  "if  any  man 
be  willing  to  do  God's  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine 
whether  it  be  of  God." 

As  a  second  quality  of  Paul's  character,  I  name  courage. 
But  I  do  not  mean  by  that  term  the  physical  bravery  which 
is  born  with  many  men,  and  for  which  they  are  no  more- 
to  be  commended  than  for  the  color  of  their  complexion: 
I  mean,  rather,  the  moral  heroism  which  confronts  all  the 
consequences  of  doing  right.  Need  I  remind  you  of  the 
many  manifestations  of  that  which  w^e  have  seen  in  the  life 
of  our  apostle.?  Immediately  after  his  conversion  he  went 
into  the  Jewish  synagogue  to  preach  Christ;  and,  after  a 
brief  interval  in  Arabia,  he  returned  from  Damascus  to  Je- 
rusalem, which  was  at  the  moment  the  very  hot-bed  of  the 
persecution  of  which  he  had  been  himself  an  agent.  He 
never  paused  to  think  what  would  become  of  himself  before 
he  entered  upon  the  course  which  the  Lord  commanded 
him  to  take.  When  he  was  exjDOsed  to  violent  assault  at 
Lycaonia,  or  to  imprisonment  at  Philippi,  or  to  the  fury  of 
the  mob  at  Ephesus,  he  never  attempted  to  purchase  safety 
by  a  policy  of  trimming;  and  whether  he  stood  before  the 
Jewish  council  or  the  Roman  governor,  the  effeminate 
Agrippa  or  the  brutal  Nero,  he  was  always  valiant  for  the 
truth.  He  did  not  care  for  consequences  when  he  felt  that 
he  was  right ;  and  the  claims  of  friendship  or  the  appeals  of 


Such  a  One  as  Paul.  545 

affection  were  as  powerless  to  change  his  purpose  as  were 
the  chains  of  imprisonment  or  the  terrors  of  martyrdom. 
Listen  to  these  ringing  words  to  the  Ephesian  elders: 
"  None  of  these  things  move  me,  neither  count  I  my  life 
dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I  might  finish  my  course  with  joy, 
and  the  ministry,  which  I  have  received  of  the  Lord."*  It 
was  true  of  him,  as  of  Moses,  that  "he  endured  as  seeing 
him  who  is  invisible."  He  counted  the  cause  of  Christ, 
with  all  its  reproach,  as  of  infinitely  more  importance  than 
his  own  safety ;  and,  never  conferring  with  flesh  and  blood, 
he  cared  not  what  became  of  his  body  so  that  Christ  was 
magnified. 

And  yet  there  was  nothing  of  rashness  or  bravado  about 
his  bearing.  He  was  prudent  as  well  as  bold.  He  was 
cautious  as  well  as  courageous.  He  would  not  wantonly  sac- 
rifice himself;  and  once  and  again  he  stood  upon  his  right 
of  civil  citizenship  to  save  himself  from  outrage.  He  did 
not  recklessly  rush  into  needless  danger;  neither  did  he 
run  into  peril  for  display,  that  he  might  show  how  he  could 
bear  himself  through  it,  as  one  makes  an  exhibition  of  his 
walking  over  the  rope  of  wire  that  is  stretched  over  the 
roaring  cataract.  If  beyond  the  danger  there  was  a  work 
of  love  to  be  performed,  which  he  could  reach  only  by  pass- 
ing through  the  peril,  then  he  did  not  hesitate  for  a  mo- 
ment. But  he  did  not  brave  danger  for  the  mere  sake  of 
braving  it.  He  would  not  throw  his  life  away  for  nothing, 
but  kept  his  offering  for  the  occasion  on  which  such  a  sac- 
rifice was  necessary  for  the  world  and  the  Church;  and  when 
that  occasion  came,  he  met  it  calmly,  saying,  "  I  am  now 
ready  to  be  offered." 

Here,  again,  we  have  an  example  worthy  of  our  study  and 
imitation.     But  in  order  to  follow  it  fully  we  must  get  at 

*  Acts  XX.,  24. 


546  Paul  the  Missionary. 

the  secret  of  that  by  which  it  was  inspired ;  and,  when  we 
go  deejD  enough,  we  find  that  in  his  faith.  He  had  the  firm 
persuasion  that  the  Lord,  though  unseen,  was  always  with 
him;  and  he  believed  that  when  his  earthly  life  was  over, 
he  would  be  with  his  Lord.  He  lived  for  Christ,  and  there- 
fore he  was  determined  to  lay  himself  out  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage for  his  Lord.  His  death  would  be  a  departure  to 
be  with  Christ;  and  therefore  the  world  could  not  terrify 
him  by  threatening  him  with  that.  When  you  take  in  the 
full  meaning  of  these  statements,  you  will  cease  to  wonder 
at  Paul's  courage;  and  perhaps  also  it  will  cease  to  be  a 
marvel  to  you  that  you  have  so  little  of  the  hero  about  your- 
self, for  faith  is  the  germ  of  courage ;  and  until  we  give  the 
unseen  preponderance  over  the  visible,  and  the  eternal  su- 
premacy over  the  temporal,  we  must  be  timid,  vacillating 
and  unreliable,  the  sport  of  every  cunning  one  who  knows 
how  to  work  upon  our  fears. 

;  But,  as  another  distinctive  feature  of  Paul's  character, 
I  name  concentration  of  purpose  and  energy.  Like  him 
whose  first  recorded  saying  was,  "Wist  ye  not  that  I  must 
be  about  my  Father's  business  ?"*  and  whose  life  motto 
might  have  been,/"  I  must  work  the  works  of  him  that  sent 
me,  while  it  is  day:  the  night  cometh  when  no  man  can 
worli]"t  Paul  kept  one  aim  steadily  and  clearly  before  him. 
In  his  personal  conduct  his  absorbing  ambition  was  to  reach 
forward  "  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  call- 
ing of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  ;"t  in  his  preaching  his  deter- 
mination was  to  know  nothing  among  men  "save  Jesus 
Christ,  and  him  crucified  ;"§  and  in  his  public  life  his  one 
desire  was  to  "  finish  bis  course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry, 
which  he  had  received  of  the  Lord."||      If  we  might  select 

*  Luke  ii.,  49.  t  John  ix.,  4.  J  Phil,  iii.,  14. 

§  I  Cor.  ii.,2.  II  Acts  XX.,  24. 


Such  a  One  as  Paul.  547 

from  his  own  writings  a  fitting  inscription  for  his  memorial, 
we  should  find  it  in  the  combination  of  these  two  expres- 
sions :  "  To  me  to  live  is  Christ,"  and  "  This  one  thing  I 
do."*  From  the  moment  of  his  conversion  till  that  of  his 
death  "one  increasing  purpose"  ran  through  his  career, 
gathering  volume  and  force  as  it  ran;  this,  namely,  that  he 
might  serve  Christ,  know  Christ,  and  become  like  Christ; 
and  everything  which  stood  in  the  way  of  his  attaining  that 
was  joyfully  sacrificed.  We  have  frequently  seen  this  ex- 
emplified in  his  actions,  and  therefore  I  refer  now  to  one  or 
two  illustrations  of  it  which  come  out  in  his  writings.  Thus, 
drawing  a  parallel  between  himself  and  the  competitors  in 
the  ancient  games,  he  says,  "  I  keep  under  my  body,  and 
bring  it  into  subjection :  lest  that  by  any  means,  when  I  have 
preached  to  others,  I  myself  should  be  a  castaway."t  Again, 
he  repels  the  charge  of  fanaticism  thus :  "  Whether  we  be 
beside  ourselves,  it  is  to  God :  or  whether  we  be  sober,  it  is 
for  your  cause.  For  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us ;  be- 
cause we  thus  judge,  that  if  one  died  for  all,  then  were  all 
dead :  and  that  he  died  for  all,  that  they  which  live  should 
not  henceforth  live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him  which  died 
for  them,  and  rose  again. "$  Very  expressive  is  that  word 
"constraineth."  Literally  the  Greek  term  means  "holdeth 
together;"  and  the  idea  is  that  the  motive-power  of  love  to 
Christ  gathered  all  his  energies  together  for  and  kept  them 
at  this,  as  the  great  engrossing  aim  of  his  being — the  living 
to  him  who  died  for  him  and  rose  again.  For  this  he  gave 
up  his  Jewish  preferences  and  privileges;  for  this  he  sacri- 
ficed all  hope  of  worldly  honor  and  political  preferment;  for 
this  he  left  home,  country,  friends,  and  went  from  city  to 
city  preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  of  God ;  for  this 
he  cheerfully  endured  his  bonds    and  imprisonments,  his 

*  Phil,  i.,  21 ;  iii.,  13.  f  i  Cor.  ix.,  27.  }  2  Cor.  v.,  13-15. 


548  Paul  the  Missionary. 

perils  on  land  and  his  dangers  on  the  deep,  his  stripes  at 
PhilijDpi  and  his  martyrdom  at  Rome.  Christ  burnt  at 
the  glowing  centre  of  his  heart,  and  the  radiance  illumined 
the  outermost  circumference  of  his  life.  What  gravitation 
is  in  the  physical  universe,  holding  everything  in  its  place, 
that  the  love  of  Jesus  was  in  his  soul,  regulating  the  lowli- 
est as  well  as  the  loftiest  of  his  actions ;  and  as  the  mech- 
anist, in  the  construction  of  a  watch,  fits  every  smallest  por- 
tion of  the  works,  so  that  when  all  are  combined  each  may 
contribute  its  own  share  to  the  great  design  of  the  whole 
in  measuring  and  making  manifest  the  time,  so  our  apostle 
made  the  thoughts  of  his  intellect,  the  emotions  of  his  heart, 
and  the  efforts  of  life,  subservient  to  "  the  furtherance  of 
the  gospel,"  both  in  himself  and  in  the  world.  If  ever  man 
was  in  earnest,  he  was  in  earnest.  Everything  about  him 
was  intense.  Festus  might  sneer  at  him  as  "  mad,"  and 
his  Corinthian  antagonists  might  despise  him  as  one  "be- 
side himself;"  but  his  was  the  madness  of  a  holy  and  intel- 
ligent zeal,  the  insanity  of  a  benevolent  and  healthy  enthu- 
siasm. He  saw  within  the  veil,  and  spoke  and  wrote  and 
acted  accordingly. 

Now  here,  again,  he  is  to  be  held  up  for  the  mitation  of 
modern  Christians ;  for  there  is  reason  to  fear  that  there  is 
a  great  lack  among  us  of  this  earnestness  of  concentrated 
enthusiasm.  We  scatter  ourselves  into  little  streamlets  of 
effort  after  many  objects,  instead  of  gathering  ourselves  into 
one  rushing  river  of  energy  in  the  following  of  Christ.  We 
wish  to  be  great  in  other  departments  than  that  of  holiness. 
We  seek  to  shine  in  learning,  or  business,  or  art,  or  science, 
or  the  like;  and  when  the  object  of  our  ambition  conflicts 
with  the  claims  of  Christ  upon  us,  we  leave  following  him, 
that  we  may  secure  it,  much  as  if  the  runner  in  the  course 
should  stop  to  pick  up  some  glittering  pebble,  and  so  lose 
the  victor's  crown.     If  you  wish  to  kindle  anything  by  the 


Such  a  One  as  Paul.  549 

rays  of  the  sun,  you  must  first  collect  them  by  the  aid  of  a 
lens  into  a  fiery  point;  and  if  you  would  have  your  Chris- 
tian character  glow  with  an  ardor  that  will  burn  its  way  in 
the  face  of  all  resistance,  you  must  first  focus,  by  the  power 
of  love,  your  whole  soul  on  the  following  of  Christ.  The 
late  Mr.Arnot,  of  Edinburgh,  tells  that  once  while  he  was 
standing  on  the  platform  of  a  Scottish  railway-station,  wait- 
ing for  the  train — which  had  been  at  rest  for  a  long  while 
— to  start,  he  overheard  the  following  colloquy  between  a 
farmer  and  the  conductor :  "  What  are  you  waiting  here  so 
long  for?  Have  you  no  water?"  "Oh,  yes,"  was  the  re- 
ply, "we  have  plenty  of  water,  but  it's  no  boiling."*  Is 
not  that  a  tolerably  accurate  description  of  the  churches 
of  to-day  ?  We  have  abundance  of  intelligence.  We  have 
splendid  machinery  for  carrying  on  our  operations.  We 
have  large  congregations  listening  to  the  proclamation  of 
the  truth.  What  lack  we  yet  ?  We  lack  this  intense,  boil- 
ing earnestness  which  inspired  the  enthusiasm  of  Paul.  We 
lack  a  new  baptism  of  fire.  Let  us  labor  and  pray  more  for 
that;  for  in  the  measure  in  which  we  secure  it  we  shall  be 
"followers  of  Paul,  even  as  he  also  was  of  Christ." 

But,  as  a  fourth  feature  of  Paul's  character,  I  name  that 
interblending  of  faithfulness  in  the  reproof  of  evil  with  gen- 
tleness in  the  treatment  of  the  evil-doer  by  which  he  was 
distinguished.  You  see  how,  in  his  letter  to  the  Galatians, 
the  indignation  of  his  soul  comes  out  against  those  who 
would  tamper  with  the  Cross  of  Christ,  v/hile  at  the  same 
time  he  "  travails  in  birth  again  "  for  his  dear  children,  who 
were  in  danger  of  being  injured  by  their  efforts. f  You 
remember  also  how,  in  writing  to  the  Philippians,  he  de- 
nounces, but  with  tears,  those  among  them  Vv'ho  were  the 

*  "This  Present  World:  Sketches  from  Nature  and  Art,"  by  William 
Arnot,  p.  83.  t  Gal.  iv.,  19. 

24 


550  Paul  the  Missionary. 

enemies  of  the  Cross  of  Christ;*  and  you  cannot  have  for- 
gotten how  he  warned  the  Ephesians  "  night  and  day  with 
tears."t  So,  again,  he  says  that  among  the  Thessalonians 
he  was  gentle  as  a  nurse  cherishing  her  children  ;|  while  in 
his  letter  to  the  Philippians  his  heart  wells  up  with  tender- 
ness as  he  styles  his  friends  "  dearly  beloved  and  longed 
for."§  He  followed  his  own  precept,  and  had  "no  fellow- 
ship with  the  unfruitful  works  of  darkness,  but  rather  re- 
proved them;||  yet  in  his  rebuke  he  was  affectionate  to  those 
who  had  erred,  and  anxious  lest  they  "  should  be  swallowed 
up  with  overmuch  sorrow."ir  How  considerate  also  he  was 
for  the  weak  brethren,  lest  they  should  be  injured  by  lack 
of  thoughtfulness  on  the  part  of  those  who  were  strong  !** 
Now,  here  we  have  a  rare  combination  of  qualities  appar- 
ently inconsistent;  and,  if  we  had  more  men  so  endowed 
in  the  churches  to-day,  the  effect  of  their  presence  would 
immediately  appear  in  an  increase  of  their  purity,  their 
progress,  their  peace.  We  are  too  apt  to  bite  and  devour 
one  another.  We  reprove  sin  so  as  to  drive  away  the  of- 
fender, rather  than  bring  him  back  to  Jesus;  and  in  the  as- 
sertion of  our  own  liberty  we  become  forgetful  of  the  weak- 
ness of  others,  so  that  their  hearts  are  wounded  and  their 
spirits  crushed.  But  these  things  ought  not  so  to  be.  Let 
us  study  more  than  ever  Paul's  lyric  on  love,  and,  under  the 
inspiration  of  his  example,  let  us  imbibe  its  spirit,  so  that 
we  too  may  crown  charity  as  the  queen  of  the  graces,  not 
simply  in  the  Church  without,  but  in  the  heart  within.  "I 
had  as  lief,"  said  Richard  Baxter,  "  be  a  martyr  for  love's 
sake  as  for  truth's;"  and  there  was  real  magnanimity  in  his 
words.  But  we  need  not 'be  disloyal  to  truth  in  order  to 
keep  allegiance  to  love.     All  that  is  required  is  that  we 

*  Phil,  iii,,  i8.  t  Acts  xx.,  31.  J  i  Thess.  ii.,  7. 

§  Phil,  iv.,  I.  II  Eph.  v.,  11.  H  2  Cor.  ii.,  7. 

**  Rom.  xiv.  :  i  Cor.  x. 


Such  a  One  as  Paul.  551 

recognize  the  difference  between  truth  and  opinion,  and  be 
careful  not  to  elevate  a  personal  preference  to  a  level  with 
an  eternal  verity.  There  are  many  among  us  who  will  fight 
for  crotchets  and  argue  for  prejudices;  but  how  few  are 
willing  to  be  silent  about  such  things  for  love !  What  does 
it  matter  how  a  man  pronounces  Shibboleth?  Is  he  not  a 
man  by  simple  virtue  of  his  speech  ?  What  does  it  signify 
how  or  whom  a  man  baptizes  ?  Does  not  his  baptism  into 
Christ  betoken  his  desire  to  be  loyal  to  the  Lord  ?  And  so 
with  other  minor  matters  of  difference.  Things  are  better 
in  this  respect  among  us  than  they  were  even  a  very  few 
years  ago,  but  there  is  room  for  improvement  still ;  and  that 
improvement  will  come  when  we  take  in  the  full  significance 
of  the  apostle's  words :  "  Now  abideth  faith,  hope,  love,  these 
three;  but  the  greatest  of  these  is  love."* 

But,  passing  on,  I  name  as  a  prominent  characteristic  of 
Paul  his  devout  humility..  He  never  sought  his  own  glory. 
On  several  occasions,  indeed,  he  stood,  as  one  may  say,  upon 
his  dignity,  and  declared  that  he  was  "  not  a  whit  behind 
the  very  chiefest  apostles  ;"t  but  he  did  so  at  these  times 
because  the  purity  of  the  Gospel  and  the  liberty  of  the 
Church,  as  well  as  the  supremacy  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  were 
all  assailed  through  an  attack  on  his  apostolical  authority. 
His  adversaries  sought  to  stab  the  truth  through  his  per- 
sonal position ;  and  therefore,  painful  as  it  was,  he  felt  com- 
pelled to  assert  his  equality  with  any  of  those  who  had  been 
the  companions  of  the  Lord.  Usually,  however,  he  kept 
himself  in  the  background ;  and,  like  John  the  Baptist,  he 
was  willing  to  decrease,  if  only  thereby  Christ  should  in- 
crease. It  is  interesting,  also,  to  mark  how  his  humility 
seems  to  have  grown  as  he  advanced  in  life.  Thus,  in  his 
first  letter  to  the  Corinthians,  which  was  written  from  Eph- 

*  I  Cor.  xiii.,  13.  f  2  Cor.  xi.,  5  ;  xii.,  11. 


552  Paul  the  Missionary. 

esus,  he  calls  himself  "the  least  of  the  apostles;"*  in  that  to 
the  Ephesians,  which  was  produced  some  six  years  later,  dur- 
ing his  first  imprisonment,  he  speaks  of  himself  as  "  less 
than  the  least  of  all  saints  ;"t  and  in  his  first  letter  to  Tim- 
othy, which  belongs  to  the  last  stage  of  his  earthly  history,  he 
uses  these  words :  "  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save 
sinners;  of  whom  I  am  chief."1:  Thus,  as  his  character  grew 
in  other  respects,  it  grew  also  in  humility.  As  he  advanced 
in  holiness  he  advanced  in  that  constituent  element  of  holi- 
ness which  we  distinguish  as  humility.  As  he  increased  in 
his  knowledge  of  Christ  he  increased  in  his  hatred  of  sin; 
and  so  the  evil  that  remained  within  him,  though  it  was  less 
absolutely  than  before,  was  felt  more  keenly  by  him  than  the 
greater  evil  of  former  years  had  been.  The  tree  that  grows 
the  tallest  sends  its  roots  most  deeply  into  the  soil.  The 
bird  that  soars  the  highest  builds  on  the  ground  its  lowly 
nest.  The  flower  of  sv/eetest  fragrance  is  the  modest  violet 
that  blooms  beneath  the  hedge.  So  the  holiest  saint  is  also 
the  humblest.  Let  us  learn,  then.  In  this  particular,  of  Paul, 
even  as  he  learned  of  his  Lord.  "  Let  nothing  be  done 
through  strife  or  vainglory;  but  in  lowliness  of  mind  let 
each  esteem  other  better  than  themselves.  Look  not  every 
man  on  his  own  things,  but  every  man  also  on  the  things  of 
others.  Let  this  mind  be  in  you,  which  was  also  in  Christ 
Jesus:  who, being  in  the  form  of  God,  thought  it  not  robbery 
to  be  equal  with  God:  but  made  himself  of  no  reputation, 
and  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made  in 
the  likeness  of  men  :  and  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man, 
he  humbled  himself,  and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even 
the  death  of  the  cross."  "  Be  clothed  with  humility :  for 
God  resisteth  the  proud,  and  giveth  grace  to  the  humble."§ 

*  I  Cor.  XV.,  9,  f  Eph.  iii.,S.  ^  ^  Tim.  i.,  15. 

§  Phil,  ii.,  3-8;  i  Pet.  v.,  5. 


Such  a  One  as  Paul.  553 

I  might  have  dwelt,  as  a  further  characteristic  of  Paul,  on 
his  prayerfulness ;  but  I  content  myself  with  the  mere  men- 
tion of  a  spirit  which  was  common  to  him  with  all  his  breth- 
ren. Very  noticeable,  however,  as  an  indication  of  his  kind- 
liness of  disposition,  is  the  wide  scope  of  his  intercessions 
for  others,  as  these  come  out  in  his  epistles."^  When  one 
stands  in  the  operating-room  of  the  Western  Union  Tele- 
graph Company  he  is  at  a  centre  from  which  he  can  com- 
municate almost  with  the  extremities  of  the  earth;  and  in  a 
similar  manner,  but  by  a  subtler  agency  than  electricity,  the 
apostle's  closet  was  the  head-quarters  from  which  unseen 
influences  went,  by  way  of  the  mercy-seat,  to  his  friends  in 
Palestine  or  Italy,  in  Greece  or  Asia  Minor;  and  one  secret 
of  his  success  as  a  preacher  was  in  the  fervor  and  particu- 
larity of  these  prayers. 

The  same  affectionateness  of  heart  is  evinced  in  the  sal- 
utations to  his  friends  in  which  his  epistles  abound.  He 
never  forgot  a  kindness;  and  the  fact  that  throughout  his 
first  imprisonment  he  was  ministered  to  by  so  many  loving 
friends  is  a  proof  that  he  possessed  that  tender  love  which 
is  the  truest  magnetism.  Was  there  ever  more  touching  de- 
votion shown  by  one  man  to  another  than  that  of  Luke  to 
Paul  ?  And  what  a  tribute  to  the  apostle's  gentleness  it  is 
that  a  man  like  Luke  should  have  given  up  his  earthly  am- 
bitions for  the  one  purpose  of  serving  Christ  by  attending 
on  him  !  Again,  that  Paul  could  inspire  and  maintain  such 
attachment  as  that  shown  to  him  by  Timothy,  is  an  evidence 
that  he  was  as  great  and  as  winning  in  the  little  things  of 
daily  life  as  he  v/as  in  the  more  important  matters  connect- 
ed with  the  organization  of  the  Christian  Church.  The 
proverb  says  that   "  no  man  is  a  hero  to  his  valet ;"  but 


*  See  Rom.  i.,  9;   i  Thes.  iii.,  10;  Eph.  i.,  16.,  iii.,  14-21 ;  Phil.  i..  4 
Col.  i.,  9  ;  Philem.  4. 


554  Paul  the  Missionary. 

those  who  were  nearest  Paul  and  knew  him  best  had  the 
most  exalted  estimate  of  his  heroism ;  and  they  might  have 
saifi,  perhaps,  that  he  was  nowhere  so  great  as  in  the  geni- 
al, confidential  aba7idon  of  his  fellowship  with  his  familiar 
friends. 

It  needs  to  be  added  that,  exalted  as  Paul  was,  he  was, 
after  all,  what  he  described  himself  to  the  inhabitants  of  Ly- 
caonia — "  a  man  of  like  passions  with  ourselves."*  He  had 
his  faults,  some  of  which,  like  those  of  Peter,  were  in  the 
near  neighborhood  of  his  excellences.  There  was  about  him 
a  certain  fiery  vehemence  of  temper — akin  to  that  manifest- 
ed by  Moses  in  his  early  days  —  which  flashed  out  occa- 
sionally with  lightning-like  rapidity  and  effect  He  had 
also  a  kind  of  intolerant  scorn  of  anything  like  moral  cow- 
ardice, which  kept  him  sometimes  from  sympathizing,  as  he 
might  otherwise  have  done,  with  the  weak  and  backsliding; 
though  he  was  always  ready  to  acknowledge  the  first  symp- 
toms of  penitence  in  them.  He  was,  withal,  extremely  sen- 
sitive ;  and  so  he  was  as  much  wounded  by  a  slight  as  he 
was  gratified  by  a  kindness.  But,  take  him  for  all  in  all,  he 
was  a  noble  man ;  and  if  we  compare  the  world  as  it  was 
when  he  was  converted  with  the  state  in  which  he  left  it  at 
his  martyrdom,  and  then  reflect  how  much  his  writings  have 
had  to  do  with  the  progress  which  we  can  trace  through  the 
past  eighteen  centuries,  we  shall  see  reason  to  aflirm  that 
no  one  mere  man  has  done  so  much  for  the  world  and 
the  Church — or  rather,  perhaps,  I  ought  to  say,  for  the  world 
through  the  Church — as  Paul. 

But  now  we  must  tear  ourselves  away  from  that  theme, 
which  for  so  many  months  has  grown  in  interest  under  our 
hands;  and  if  I  may  measure  the  profit  of  my  hearers  by 
the  benefit  which  I  have  myself  derived  from  the  prepara- 

*  Acts  xiv.,  15. 


Such  a  One  as  Paul.  555 

tion  of  these  discourses,  we  shall  all  have  reason  to  rejoice. 
In  the  memoir  of  Dr.  Andrew  Reed,  famous  throughout 
Great  Britain,  and  not  unknown  in  America,  for  his  noble 
efforts  in  founding  institutions  for  the  care  of  idiots,  orphans, 
incurables,  and  others  similarly  afflicted,  there  is  a  touching 
section  which  tells  how,  when  he  was  a  little  boy,  he  was 
taken  by  one  of  his  parents  to  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  and 
shown  the  statue  of  John  Howard,  the  great  philanthropist, 
which  had  then  been  only  recently  erected.  His  mother 
made  the  visit  instructive  by  telling  him  the  story  of  the 
man  who  travelled  through  Europe  visiting  the  prisons  of  its 
different  countries,  and  gave  his  life  at  last  a  sacrifice  for 
the  benefit  of  those  who  were  immured  within  their  cells. 
Young  Reed  never  forgot  that  visit.  The  seed  of  truth 
sown  by  his  mother's  explanation  of  that  marble  memorial 
of  the  prisoner's  friend  sprung  up  at  length,  and  bore  fruit 
in  those  splendid  charities  with  which  his  name  will  always 
be  associated.  During  the  months  of  this  ecclesiastical 
year  I  have  been  leading  you  through  the  cathedral  of  Paul's 
life.  I  have  shown  you  the  memorial,  more  enduring  than 
marble  or  bronze,  reared  in  the  Book  of  God  to  his  worth. 
I  have  tried  to  communicate  to  you  my  own  enthusiasm  in 
the  study  of  his  character.  ]May  God  grant  that  some  of 
this  seed  also  may  drop  into  your  hearts,  and  become  the 
germ  in  you  of  earnest  eft'ort  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
welfare  of  men  in  connection  with  the  Gospel !  And  if,  in 
after-time,  some  who  now  hear  me,  or  have  listened  to  this 
series  of  discourses,  shall  trace  the  beginning  of  new  life, 
or  the  broadening  and  deepening  of  Christian  character  in 
them  to  our  study  of  the  experience,  work,  and  writings  of 
the  great  apostle,  I  shall  be  abundantly  rewarded.  The 
grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you  all.     Amen. 


INDEX. 


Acre,  376. 

Acts  of  the  Apostles,  design  of  the  Book  of  the,  7  ;  different  accounts 

of  Paul's  conversion  in,  harmonized,  36,  392  ;  Paley's  argument  from, 

in  connection  with  the  Pauline  Epistles,  60-63. 
Adiabene,  Queen  of,  78. 
Agabas,  prediction  of  famine  by,  78  ;  prediction  of  calamity  to  Paul  by, 

377- 

Alexander,  Rev.  J.  A.,  D.D.,  referred  to,  398. 

,  Rev.  W.  L.,  D.D.,  "  St.  Paul  at  Athens,"  quoted  from,  269  ; 

edition  of  Kitto's  "  Cyclopaedia  "  by,  quoted  from,  30,  128. 

Alexandria,  301  ;  corn-ship  of,  described  by  Lucian,  445. 

Alexandrians,  Synagogue  of,  at  Jerusalem,  9. 

Alford,  Dean,  quoted  from  or  referred  to,  159,  184,  284,  297,  397,448, 
466,  507,  50S,  528. 

Ananias  sent  to  Paul,  38  ;  directions  given  to,  47. 

Ancyra,  213. 

Antagonism  provoked  by  fidelity  to  the  truth,  19. 

Antioch  on  the  Orontes,  description  of,  71  ;  Paul  labors  a  whole  year 
at,  75  ;  disciples  first  called  Christians  at,  75  ;  departure  of  Paul  from, 
on  first  missionary  journey,  90  ;  return  of  Paul  to,  161  ;  controversy 
regarding  circumcision  at,  165  ;  departure  of  Paul  from,  for  second 
missionaiy  journey,  204 ;  return  of  Paul  to,  300  ;  third  missionary 
journey  from,  300. 

in  Pisidia,  position  of,  109  ;  Paul's  sermon  in  synagogue  of,  iii- 

121  ;  Paid  driven  from,  124  ;  Paul  returns  to,  140. 

Appeal  to  the  Emperor,  effect  of,  428. 

Appii  Forum,  472. 

Apollo,  temple  of,  at  Antioch,  72  ;  at  Patara,  375. 

Apollos,  account  of,  301. 

Aquila  and  Priscilla,  2S0  ;  an  example  of  conjugal  co-operation  in  the 
Gospel,  292  ;  accompany  Paul  from  Corinth  to  Ephesus,  299  ;  labors 
of,  at  Ephesus,  301. 

Arabia,  journey  of  Paul  to,  50  ;  benefit  of  sojourn  in,  to  Paul,  51  ;  pre- 
cise place  of  Paul's  journey  to,  in  the  history,  52  ;  lessons  from  Paul's 
sojourn  in,  65. 

24* 


55^  Index. 

Aretas,  King  of  Arabia  Petrsea,  54. 
Argyle,  Marquis  of,  241. 
Aristarchus,  444,  494. 
Arnold,  Dr.  Thomas,  referred  to,  276. 
Arnot,  Rev.  William,  quoted  from,  292,  353. 
Artemision,  320. 

Arundell,  Rev.  Mr.,  discoveiy  by,  no. 
Asiarchs,  320. 
Askew,  Anne,  240,  51G. 
Asleep  in  Jesus,  23. 
Assos,  351. 

Athens,  259,  261  ;  idolatry  in,  263  ;  Paul's  address  on  Mars  Hill  ana- 
lyzed, 269  ;  court  of  Areopagus  in,  26S. 
Attalia,  161. 

Attains  of  Pergamus,  214. 
Azizus,  King  of  Emesa,  411. 

Bacon's  "  Essays,"  quoted  from,  136. 

Baker,  Rev.  Daniel,  on  board  the  ship  City  of  London,  459. 

,  Erancis,  version  of  "Jerusalem,  my  Happy  Home,"  by,  517. 

Baptism,  infant,  intimately  related  to  the  unity  of  the  household,  240. 

Bar-jesus,  the  sorcerer,  96,  98. 

Barnabas,  perhaps  a  fellow-student  of  Paul,  30  ;  kindness  of,  to  Paul  at 
Jerusalem,  57,  66;  goes  from  Antioch  to  Tarsus  to  seek  Paul,  70; 
goes  to  Jerusalem  with  Paul,  79  ;  designated  with  Paul  as  a  mission- 
ary, 80  ;  in  Cyprus  with  Paul,  91  ;  goes  with  Paul  to  Perga,  104  ;  and 
to  Antioch  in  Pisidia,  109  ;  at  Iconium,  128  ;  in  Lycaonia,  133  ;  taken 
by  the  people  there  for  Jupiter,  135  ;  inconsistency  of,  with  Peter  at 
Antioch,  189  ;  controversy  of,  with  Paul  concerning  Mark,  197. 

Baumgarten,  quoted  from  or  referred  to,  34,  36. 

Bengel,  John  A.,  quoted  from,  no. 

Berea,  252  ;  Jews  in,  more  noble  than  those  in  Thessalonica,  252  ;  les- 
sons from  the  candor  of  hearers  in,  257  ;  revisited  by  Paul,  345. 

Bemice,  409,  430,  431, 

Bible,  responsibility  of  men  who  have  the,  145  ;  lines  of  Michael  Bruce 
on  the,  146  ;  stones  in  the,  valuable  for  the  training  of  children,  207. 

Bin-bir-Kilisseh,  134. 

Bishop,  meaning  of,  in  the  early  Church,  156. 

Blair,  Robert,  quotation  from  "  The  Grave,"  by,  24. 

Bro^vn,  Rev.  George,  discovers  ruins  of  Lasea,  447. 

,  Rev.  John,  D.D.,  quoted  from,  348. 

Bruce,  Michael,  lines  by,  on  the  Bible,  146. 

Budgett,  Samuel,  story  of,  315, 

Bunyan,  John,  251,  295,  518. 

Burns,  Robert,  quotation  from,  329. 


Index.  559 

Burns,  Rev.  W.  C,  anecdote  of,  8S. 
Business  and  Religion,  331. 
Butler,  Bishop,  quoted  from,  417. 

C^SAR,  appeal  to,  effect  of,  428. 

,  Claudius,  famine  in  reign  of,  78  ;    decree  of,  concemmg  the 

Jew's,  280  ;  promise  of,  to  Agrippa  the  younger,  430  ;  referred  to, 

217. 

,  Julius,  opinion  of,  concerning  the  Gauls,  214. 

-,  Augustus,  224,  225. 


Caesarea,  300,  376,  386,  402. 
Calvin,  John,  quoted  from,  369. 
Cenchrea,  Paul's  shaving  of  his  head  at,  297. 
Cesnola's  "Cyprus,"  quoted  from,  91,  93,  95- 
Cestus,  Caius,  pyramid  of,  53&. 

Christ,  though  glorified,  is  deeply  interested  in  his  suffering  people,  21  ; 
true  to  his  people  in  adversity,  538. 

a  King,  255-257. 

Christian,  first  use  of  the  name,  75  ;  inferences  from  its  employment  by 
the  people  of  Antioch,  77,  78,  81  ;  normal  type  of  the,  438. 

people,  right  of  the,  to  choose  their  own  office-bearers,  159. 

Christophers,  S.  W.,  "Hymn-writers  and  their  Hymns,"  517,  518. 
Church,  the  Christian,  position  of  its  first  members  in  Jerusalem,  8  ;  or- 
ganization of  a,  155. 
Cicero,  386  ;  quotation  from,  252  ;  despondency  of,  in  exile,  519. 

Circumcision,  controversy  of  the,  166. 

Citizenship,  Roman,  29,  235,  395- 

Clauda,  island  of,  448. 

Claudius,  Lysias,  385,  395  ;  letter  of,  to  Felix,  402. 

Cnidus,  446. 

Coleridge,  S.  T.,  on  Mehta,  463. 

Colony,  meaning  of,  under  the  Romans,  225. 

Colosse,  213,  300. 

Colossians,  Epistle  to  the,  501. 

Confirmation  of  the  churches,  150. 

Congregation,  dismissal  of,  at  Antioch  in  Pisidia,  122. 

Conybeare.     See  Howson. 

Conscience,  definition  of,  by  Butler,  417  ;  twofold  power  of,  417. 

Contribution  for  poor  saints  at  Jerusalem,  343-345. 

Conviction,  danger  of  stifling,  419. 

Conversion,  two  agencies  in,  236  ;  turning-point  in,  36,  440. 

-  of  Paul  an  argument  for  Christianity,  40 ;  different  accounts 

of,  explained  and  harmonized,  36,  392. 

Converts,  new,  should  be  kindly  welcomed  into  the  Church,  66  ;  should 
be  carefully  instructed,  151  ;  should  be  prepared  for  hardships,  152. 


560  Index. 

Coos,  or  Cos,  374. 

Copper,  derivation  of  the  name,  92. 

Corinth,  description  of,  277-279  ;  arrival  of  Paul  at,  279  ;  Paul  writes  to 
the  Thessalonians  from,  2S2  ;  Paul  labors  in,  2S6  ;  First  Epistle  to 
Church  of,  316  ;  Second  Epistle  to  Church  of,  341  ;  return  of  Paul 
to,  346  ;  departure  of  Paul  from,  350. 

Corn-ship,  description  of,  by  Lucian,  445. 

Council  of  Jerusalem,  occasion  of,  165-167;  meeting  of,  169-172  ;  de- 
cree of,  172  ;  bearing  of,  on  the  subject  of  church  government,  178  ; 
permanent  lessons  from,  179-183. 

Courage,  physical  and  moral,  388  ;  rooted  in  faith,  458,  544. 

Cowper,  William,  quotation  from,  183. 

Craig-Dhu,  134. 

Crete,  447. 

Damascus,  description  of,  35  ;  Straight  Street  in,  48  ;  preaching  of  Paul 
at,  50,  52  ;  departure  of  Paul  from,  54. 

Davies,  Rev.  G.  S.,  M.A.,  "  St.  Paul  in  Greece,"  quoted  from,  279. 

Deacons,  choice  of,  10. 

Death  of  a  believer,  peacefulness  of,  22. 

Decree  of  Council  of  Jerusalem,  172  ;  whether  permanent  in  obligation, 
178. 

Demas,  494. 

Demetrius  and  the  craftsmen  at  Ephesus,  321. 

Derbe,  133,  147,  205. 

Diana,  festival  of,  at  Ephesus,  320. 

,  temple  of,  at  Perga,  104  ;  at  Ephesus,  304. 

Dick,  Rev.  John,  D.D.,  "Lectures  on  the  Acts,"  quoted  from  or  re- 
ferred to,  174,  394. 

Doctrine  and  life,  connection  between,  537. 

Doddridge,  Philip,  D.D.,  scene  from  early  life  of,  207. 

Douglas  of  Cavers,  description  by,  of  Paul's  style  in  Epistle  to  the  Ga- 
latians,  348. 

Drusilla,  410  ;  death  of,  417. 

Dwight,  Dr.,  American  missionary,  quotation  from,  223. 

Eadie,  Rev.  John,  D.D,,  "  Paul  the  Preacher,"  quoted  from  or  referred 
to,  83,  102,  114,  137,  138,  366. 

Ecclesiastical  polity,  requisites  for  a  Scriptural,  160. 

Egnatian  road,  224,  242,  252. 

Elders,  place  and  office  of,  in  the  primitive  Church,  156  ;  plurality  of,  in 
each  church,  157;  had  two  functions,  158;  were  chosen  by  the  mem- 
bers of  the  churches,  158  ;  of  Ephesus,  sent  for  by  Paul  to  Miletus,  355. 

Elymas,  98  ;  struck  with  blindness,  loi,  102. 

Epaphras,  494, 


Index.  561 

Epaphroditus,  494. 

Ephesian  letters,  308. 

Ephesians,  Epistle  to  the,  507. 

Ephesus,  Paul's  first  visit  to,  300  ;  return  of  Paul  to,  303  ;  description 
of,  303  ;  Temple  of  Diana  at,  304  ;  burning  of  books  of  magic  at, 
309  ;  festival  of  Diana  at,  320  ;  manufacture  of  silver  shrines  at,  320  ; 
uproar  at,  322  ;  theatre  of,  322  ;  sacristan  of  the  Temple  of  Diana, 
324 ;  mayor  of,  324  ;  discoveries  of  Mr.  Wood  at,  323,  327,  328  ; 
good  advice  of  mayor  of,  332  ;  departure  of  Paul  from,  336  ;  Paul 
sends  for  elders  of,  to  INIiletus,  355  ;  address  to  elders  of,  by  Paul, 
356-367  ;  troubles  in  Church  of,  foretold  by  Paul,  366  ;  Johannine 
Christians  at,  305. 

Epicurus,  doctrines  of,  265. 

Epistle  to  the  Colossians,  described,  501. 

to  the  Corinthians,  First,  described,  316. 

to  the  Corinthians,  Second,  described,  341. 

to  the  Ephesians,  described,  507. 

to  the  Galatians,  described,  347. 

■ to  the  Hebrews,  531. 

to  Philemon,  described,  502. 

to  the  Philippians,  described,  510, 

to  the  Romans,  described,  34S. 

to  Titus,  530. 

Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians,  282. 

to  Timothy,  528,  535. 

Erskine,  Ebenezer,  quotation  from,  159. 

Eunice,  mother  of  Timothy,  134,  206. 

Eutychus,  incident  concerning,  350. 

Fair  Havens,  447. 

Fairbairn's  "  Imperial  Bible  Dictionary,"  quoted  from  or  referred  to, 
79,  133,  485. 

Faith,  power  of,  to  sustain  the  soul,  240,  458. 

Famagusta,  92. 

Family,  religious  trainin*  in  the,  importance  of,  207,  2ig. 

Farrar,  Canon,  D.D,,  "Life  and  Work  of  St.  Paul," quoted  from  or  re- 
ferred to,  32,  170,  510. 

Felix,  Antonius,  Governor  of  Judaea,  3S2  ;  character  of,  410  ;  Paul  be- 
fore, 411  ;  emotions  of,  under  Paul's  appeals,  416  ;  leaves  Paul  a 
prisoner,  417, 

Festus,  Porcius,  Governor  of  Judaea,  425  ;  answer  of,  to  the  Jews'  re- 
quest concerning  Paul,  426  ;  visit  of  Agrippa  the  younger  to,  430  ; 
speech  of  Paul  before,  432  ;  declares  that  Paul  is  mad,  433  ;  answer 
of  Paul  to,  433. 

Flabius,  Clemens,  493. 


562  Index. 

Forsyth's  "  Life  of  Cicero,"  quoted  from,  519. 

Galatia,  province  of,  described,  213  ;  visit  of  Paul  to,  214  ;  again  vis- 
ited by  Paul,  300, 

Galatians,  characteristics  of  the,  214  ;  first  reception  of  Paul  by  the,  215  ; 
revisited  by  Paul,  300  ;  Epistle  to  the,  347, 

Gallic,  287  ;  conduct  of,  as  a  judge,  2S8, 

Gamaliel,  "  Rabban,"  8,  29  ;  sons  of,  30. 

Gangites,  226. 

Ganneau,  M.  Clermont,  discovery  by,  in  excavations  at  Jerusalem,  383. 

Gauls,  invasion  of  Asia  Minor  by  the,  214  ;  Julius  Caesar's  description 
of  the,  214. 

Gibbon,  Edward,  "  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire," quoted  from  or  referred  to,  72-74. 

God,  existence  of,  postulated  by  Paul  in  his  address  at  Lycaonia,  141  ; 
gives  richest  help  when  we  are  most  in  need,  407,  515. 

Goldsmith,  Oliver,  quotation  from,  334. 

Gozzo,  island  of,  448. 

Grey,  Lady  Jane,  517. 

Guy  on,  Madame,  51S. 

Guthrie,  Rev.  Thomas,  D.D.,  quoted,  64. 

Hackett,  H.  B.,  D.D.,  quoted  from  or  referred  to,  131,  445,  451. 

Hamilton,  Rev.  James,  D.D.,  "Our  Christian  Classics,"  quoted  from, 
207,  517. 

,  Sir  William,  advice  by,  403. 

Harmony  of  Paul  and  James  on  justification,  353, 

'-  of  accounts  of  Paul's  conversion,  36,  392. 

Hastings,  Marquis  of,  burial-place  of,  24. 

Hebrews,  Epistle  to  the,  531. 

Hellenists,  complaints  of  the,  against  the  Apostles,  9. 

Herod  Agi'ippa  I.,  409. 

Agrippa  IL,  offends  the  Jews,  425  ;  visits  Festus,  430  ;  character 

of,  430  ;  speech  of  Paul  before,  432  ;  reply  of,  to  Paul's  aj^peal,  434. 

Homer,  quotation  from,  136. 

"  Horse  Paulinoe,"  argument  of,  explained  and  exemplified,  60-63  ;  quo- 
tations from,  184,  318. 

Howard,  John,  influence  of  his  history,  555. 

Household,  unity  of  the,  in  its  head,  239, 

Howson,  Dean,  "Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,"  quoted  from  or  referred 
to,  28,  30,  32,  68,  73,  90,  no,  1S5,  254,  300,  308,  337,  344,  375,  443, 
448,  449,  472,  482,  524,  531. 

ICONIUM,  128,   301. 

Idol,  emptiness  of  an,  146. 


Index.  563 

Idolatry,  evidence  of,  at  Athens,  263. 
Illyricum,  346. 

Imprisonment,  question  of  Paul's  second,  discussed,  521 ;  Epistles  of  the, 
500. 

Jacobs's  "Ecclesiastical  Polity  of  the  New  Testament,"  quoted  from, 
III. 

James,  harmony  of,  with  Paul  on  justification,  353. 

,  speech  of,  at  Jerusalem  Council,  171. 

Jerusalem,  synagogues  of  foreign-born  Jews  in,  g  ;  meeting  of  Council 
at,  169-174  ;  decree  of  Council  of,  173-177  ;  lessons  from  the  Coun- 
cil of,  179  ;  contributions  for  poor  saints  of,  343  ;  apprehension  of 
Paul  at,  385  ;  visits  of  Paul  to,  after  his  conversion,  183. 

•'Jerusalem,  my  Happy  Plome,"  version  of,  by  Francis  Baker,  referred 
to,  517: 

Jesuit,  contrast  between,  and  the  name  Christian,  81. 

Jews,  right  of,  to  inflict  capital  punishment,  17. 

Johannine  Christians  at  Ephesus,  305. 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  on  Lyttelton's  Essay  on  the  conversion  of  Paul,  44. 

Josephus,  quoted  from  or  referred  to,  92,  381,  397,  426,  445. 

Judaizers,  visit  of,  to  Antioch,  1 86  ;  influence  of,  on  Gentile  churches, 

343. 
Judgment  perverted  by  self-interest,  329, 
Judson,  Adoniram,  prison  life  of,  519. 
Jupiter,  Barnabas  taken  for,  at  Lystra,  137. 
Justification,  Paul's  doctrine  of,  116— 121. 
"Justify,"  old  Scotch  sense  of,  117. 

Kara  Dagh,  134, 

King,  Rev.  David,  LL.D.,  quoted  from,  174. 

Kitto's  "  Cyclopaedia,"  edited  by  Dr.  W.  L.  Alexander,  quoted  from,  30, 
128. 

"  Daily  Bible  Illustrations,"  quoted  from,  61,  224,  30S,  373. 

Koura,  point  of,  451. 
Krenides,  224. 

Labor,  dignity  of,  289. 
Laodicea,  213,  301. 
Lasea,  447. 

Laying  on  of  hands,  meaning  of,  80. 
Leathes,  Rev.  Stanley,  quoted  from,  118. 

Lee,  Rev.  William,  D.D.,  "  Lectui'es  on  the  Inspiration  of  Holy  Script- 
ure," referred  to,  13. 
Leighton,  Archbishop,  quoted  from,  313. 
Lewin,  Thomas,  Esq.,  "  Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,"  quoted  from  or 


564  Index. 

referred  to,  ir,  17,  28,  30,  31,  48,  55,  73,  92,  95,  12S,  137,  223,  252, 
260,  308,  374,  431,  445,  472,  511. 

Liberality  commended  and  enforced  by  Paul,  353. 

Libertines,  synagogue  of  the,  at  Jerusalem,  9. 

Liberty  dependent  on  adherence  to  truth,  351. 

Life  and  doctrine,  connection  between,  537. 

Lightfoot,  Bishop,  quoted  from  or  referred  to,  96,  185,  215,  226,  227, 
327,  328,  329,  349,  48S,  510. 

Locke,  John,  quotation  from,  53. 

Lois,  grandmother  of  Timothy,  134,  206. 

Love  and  liberty  in  the  Christian  life,  181. 

Lucian,  description  of  a  corn-ship,  445. 

Luke,  minute  historical  accuracy  of,  verified,  95,  223,  242,  456,  469; 
first  appearance  of,  in  the  narrative,  216  ;  early  history  of,  216  ;  prob- 
able sojourn  of,  at  Philippi,  243  ;  with  Paul  at  Troas,  350 ;  accom- 
panies Paul  on  his  voyage,  444  ;  is  with  Paul  at  Rome,  494. 

Lutro,  448. 

Lycaonia,  133  ;  Paul's  address  to  men  of,  138. 

Lydia,  conversion  of,  228  ;  receives  Paul  into  her  house,  228. 

Lystra,  133,  205. 

Lyttelton,  Lord,  Essay  of,  on  the  conversion  of  Paul,  43. 

M'Crie,  Rev.  Thomas,  D.D.,  anecdote  of,  372. 

Macedonia,  vision  of  the  man  of,  by  Paul,  216,  221. 

Mackenzie,  Rev.  Morell,  shipwreck  of,  459. 

Mackenzie's  "  Dictionary  of  Biography,"  quoted  from,  515. 

Madagascar  martyrs,  370. 

Mark,  John,  taken  by  Barnabas  and  taul  on  their  first  missionaiy  jour- 
ney, 89 ;  leaves  them  at  Perga,  104  ;  probable  reasons  for  his  con- 
duct, 105  ;  lessons  from  his  going  back,  105  ;  with  Paul  again  at 
Rome,  494. 

IMartyn,  Henry,  answer  of,  to  a  Persian  Sufi,  77. 

May,  sacred  month  at  Ephesus,  320. 

"  Meditation,  a  Prison,"  by  George  Wither,  518. 

Melita,  reasons  for  identifying  with  Malta,  464. 

Mercury,  Paul  taken  for  the  god,  at  Lystra,  137. 

Merivale,  Rev.  Dean,  D.D.,  quoted  from,  493. 

Messiahship  of  Jesus  proved  by  Paul,  114. 

Meyer,  view  of,  regarding  Paul's  conversion,  34  ;  on  the  Epistles  of  the 
Imprisonment,  500. 

Miletus,  description  of,  355  ;  Paul  sends  for  Ephesian  elders  to,  355  ; 
address  of  Paul  to  Ephesian  elders  at,  356-367  ;  parting  of  Ephesian 
elders  with  Paul  at,  367. 

Milman,  Dean,  D.D.,  "  History  of  the  Jews,"  quoted  from,  410. 

Minuteness  of  God's  care  over  his  people,  63,  512. 


Index.  565 

Miracle,  effect  of,  depends  on  the  degree  of  knowledge,  and  previous 

religious  belief  of  the  beholder,  136,  467. 
Miracles  of  the  Apostles,  peculiarity  concerning,  99-103,  133,  307. 
Missionary  enterprise,  the  inauguration  of,  80,  84  ;  essential  to  the  life 

of  the  Church,  86,  89. 

meeting,  the  first,  161. 

Missions,  Home  and  Foreign,  not  antagonistic,  86,  87. 

Mnason,  378. 

Moffat,  Rev.  Robert,  African  missionary,  anecdote  of,  31 ;  saying  of,  163. 

Monod,  Adolphe,  quoted  from  or  referred  to,  44,  360. 

Montgomery,  James,  '*  Prison  Amusements"  of,  519. 

Morea,  the,  277. 

Mutiny,  Indian,  370. 

Myra,  445. 

Naples,  Bay  of,  471. 

Neapolis,  216,  217,  223. 

Nelson,  Admiral,  at  battle  of  Copenhagen,  452. 

Nero,  character  of,  482-484  ;  burning  of  Rome  by,  533  ;  cruelty  of,  to 

Christians,  533. 
Newman,  John  Henry,  referred  to,  33. 
Nicopolis,  531. 

Ovid,  quotations  from,  136,  137. 

Onesimus,  with  Paul  at  Rome,  494  ;  story  of,  505  ;  letter  of  Paul  to  Phi- 
lemon concerning,  506. 
Onesiphorus  finds  Paul  at  Rome,  534,  537. 

Page,  Harlan,  368. 

Paley's  "Horae  Paulinse,"  argument  of,  described  and  exemplified,  60^ 
63  ;  quoted  from  or  referred  to,  184,  318. 

Pamphylia,  103. 

Pangasus,  223. 

Paphos,  92. 

Patara,  375. 

Paul,  first  appearance  of,  in  the  sacred  narrative,  18  ;  parents  of,  28  ; 
education  of,  29,  30  ;  trade  of,  31  ;  early  feelings  of,  in  reference  to 
Christ,  32  ;  obtains  a  commission  to  Damascus,  34  ;  conversion  of, 
36  ;  arguments  from,  40-43  ;  reflections  on,  36-40,  45  ;  visited  by 
Ananias,  47  ;  baptized,  48  ;  preaches  in  Damascus,  50  ;  goes  to  Ara- 
bia, 50;  returns  to  Damascus,  51;  flight  of,  from  Damascus,  54; 
goes  to  Jerusalem,  57  ;  first  meeting  of.  Math  Peter,  57  ;  labors  of,  at 
Jerusalem,  59  ;  leaves  Jerusalem  for  Tarsus,  60  ;  obscurity  concern- 
ing movements  of,  at  Tarsus,  68  ;  brought  by  Barnabas  to  Antioch, 
70 ;  labors  at  Antioch  a  whole  year,  75  ;  goes  to  Jerusalem  with  Bar- 


566  Index. 

nabas,  79  ;  designated  with  Barnabas  as  a  missionary,  80  ;  sails  from 
Seleucia,  90  ;  at  Cyprus,  91  ;  two  names  of,  99  ;  goes  to  Perga,  104  ; 
to  Antioch  in  Pisidia,  109;  first  reported  sermon  of,  iii  ;  at  Ico- 
nium,  128  ;  in  Lycaonia,  133  ;  people  seek  to  worship,  as  Mercury, 
135  ;  address  of,  to  the  Lycaonians,  138  ;  attempt  to  murder,  144  ; 
goes  to  Derbe,  147  ;  returns  through  Lystra,  Iconium,  and  Antioch, 
148-160 ;  arrives  at  Perga,  160 ;  at  Attalia,  161  ;  returns  to  the  Syr- 
ian Antioch,  161  ;  circumcision  controversy  at  Antioch,  166,  167  ; 
goes  to  Jerusalem  to  the  Council,  169  ;  visits  of,  to  Jenasalem,  183  ; 
contention  of,  with  Peter  at  Antioch,  186-190 ;  lessons  from  contro- 
versy of,  with  Peter,  192-195  ;  contention  of,  with  Barnabas,  197  ; 
leaves  Antioch  for  Cilicia,  204 ;  revisits  Iconium,  204 ;  takes  Timo- 
thy for  his  companion,  209  ;  ordains  Timothy,  212  ;  visits  Galatia, 
213  ;  lands  in  Europe,  217  ;  visits  Philippi,  224  ;  in  prison  with  Silas, 
232  ;  delivered  by  an  earthquake,  234  ;  pleads  his  right  as  a  Roman 
citizen,  235  ;  visits  Thessalonica,  243  ;  discourse  in  synagogue  of 
Thessalonica,  244-246  ;  at  Berea,  252  ;  goes  to  Athens,  259  ;  preach- 
es in  synagogue  of  Athens,  259  ;  addresses  the  Athenians  on  Areop- 
agus, 269  ;  goes  to  Corinth,  279;  illness  of,  282  ;  labors  in  Corinth 
with  great  zeal,  2S6  ;  is  taken  before  Gallio,  287  ;  leaves  for  Syria, 
297  ;  vow  of,  at  Cenchrea,  297  ;  visits  Ephesus,  300 ;  goes  to  Jeru- 
salem, 300  ;  revisits  Phrygia  and  Galatia,  301,  303  ;  at  Ephesus,  303  ; 
special  miracles  by,  at  Ephesus,  307  ;  uproar  concerning,  at  Ephe- 
sus, 322  ;  departure  of,  from  Ephesus,  336  ;  at  Troas,  336  ;  goes  to 
Macedonia,  339  ;  meets  Titus  in  Macedonia,  340  ;  writes  the  Second 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  there,  341  ;  revisits  Corinth,  346  ;  writes 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  347  ;  wTites  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  348  ; 
goes  through  Macedonia  to  Troas,  350 ;  and  from  Troas  to  Miletus, 
351 ;  sends  for  elders  of  Ephesus,  355  ;  addresses  the  elders  of  Eph- 
esus, 356-367  ;  character  of  teachings  of,  357  ;  tenderness  of,  358  ; 
industry  of,  359  ;  heroism  of,  360  ;  disinterestedness  of,  361  ,  trials 
of,  362  ;  at  Patara,  375  ;  at  Tyre,  375  ;  at  Ptolemais,  375  ;  at  Caes- 
area,  376  ;  at  Jerusalem,  377  ;  advised  by  James,  380  ;  attacked  in 
the  Temple,  383  ;  rescued  by  the  chief  captain,  385  ;  addresses  the 
mob  from  the  castle  stairs,  393  ;  pleads  his  Roman  citizenship,  395  ; 
before  the  Council  at  Jerusalem,  396  ;  conspiracy  against,  401  ;  sent 
to  Csesarea,  402;  arraigned  before  Felix,  411;  replies  to  Tertullus, 
413  ;  reasons  before  Felix  and  Drusilla,  415  ;  defends  himself  before 
Festus,  427  ;  appeals  to  Csesar,  428  ;  speech  of,  before  Agrippa,  432  ; 
sent  to  Rome,  443  ;  shipwrecked  at  Melita,  453  ;  leaves  Melita  for 
Italy,  470  ;  lands  at  Puteoli,  470 ;  met  by  friends  at  Appii  Forum, 
472  ;  at  Three  Taverns,  473  ;  arrives  in  Rome,  484  ;  meets  the  Jews 
at  Rome,  485  ;  writes  the  Epistles  of  the  Imprisonment,  500  ;  second 
imprisonment  of,  question  of,  discussed,  521  ;  writes  First  Epistle  to 
Timothy,  528  ;  writes  Epistle  to  Titus,  530  ;  writes  Second  Epistle 


Index.  567 

to  Timothy,  534  ;  a  pattern  to  Christians,  540  ;  conscientiousness  of, 
542  ;  courage  of,  544  ;  concentration  of  purpose  and  energy  in,  546  ; 
faithfulness,  blended  with  tenderness,  in,  549;  humility  of,  551; 
prayerfulness  of,  553  ;  faults  of,  554  ;  death  of,  536. 

Pedanius  Secundus,  slaves  of,  killed  at  his  death,  514. 

Perga,  104. 

Persecution  a  vain  thing,  25,  126. 

Pessinus,  213. 

Peter,  place  of,  in  the  early  chapters  of  the  Acts,  7 ;  first  meeting  of  Paul 
with,  57;  speech  of,  at  Jerusalem  Council,  171  ;  contention  of  Paul 
with,  at  Antioch,  186  ;  character  of,  187  ;  conduct  of,  at  Antioch, 
189  ;  address  of  Paul  to,  190 ;  lessons  from  controversy  of  Paul  with, 

195- 

Philemon,  Epistle  of  Paul  to,  507. 

Philip  the  Evangelist,  376. 

Philippi,  224 ;  a  Roman  colony,  225  ;  place  of  prayer  near,  226  ;  con- 
version of  Lydia  at,  228  ;  imprisonment  of  Paul  at,  232. 

Philippians,  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the,  510. 

Philo,  301. 

Philosophy  and  the  Gospel,  275. 

Phoenix  or  Phoenice,  448. 

Phrygia,  301,  303, 

Pilgrim  Fathers,  gi,  218. 

Pisidia,  109. 

Pliny  the  elder,  386  ;  Natural  History  referred  to,  95. 

the  younger,  letters  of,  referred  to,  82,  386,  416,  507, 

Plumptre,  Rev.  Dr.,  quoted  from  or  referred  to,  28,  73,  133,  134,  138, 
280,  370,  384,  431,  448. 

Poppaea,  428. 

Praetorium,  meaning  of,  489. 

Preaching,  necessity  for  study  in  order  to,  130  ,  success  of,  depends  on 
the  spirit  of  the  hearers  as  well  as  on  the  preacher,  257. 

Prejudice,  blinding  influence  of,  312. 

Pressense,  Rev.  E.,  quoted  from  or  referred  to,  33,  213. 

Princeton  Review,  quoted  from,  33. 

Priscilla  and  Aquila,  280  ;  an  example  of  conjugal  co-operation  in  the 
Gospel  of  Christ,  292  ;  accompany  Paul  to  Ephesus,  299. 

Prison  literature  of  the  Church,  515-519. 

Proconsul,  meaning  of,  94,  95. 

Procrastination,  hypocrisy  of,  312. 

Proselytes,  religious,  iii. 

Providence  in  Paul's  early  histor}'',  44. 

Provinces,  distinction  between  imperial  and  senatorial,  94. 

Ptolemais,  375. 

Purity  of  the  Christian  life,  Paul's  zeal  for,  352. 


568  Index. 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  517, 

Reed,  Dr.  Andrew,  stoiy  of ,  552. 

Renan,  E.,  quoted  from  or  referred  to,  35,  484. 

Resurrection  of  Christ,  the  corner-stone  of  the  Christian  system,  435. 

of  the  dead,  mocked  at  by  the  Athenians,  273. 

Rhodes,  374. 

Ridley,  the  martyr,  516. 

Robinson,  Edward,  D.D.,  quoted  from,  159. 

Romans,  Epistle  io  the,  348. 

Rome,  description  of,  at  the  time  of  Paul's  arrival  in,  481  ;  Paul  confers 

with  the  Jews  at,  485  ;  Paul's  success  in,  489. 
Royal  Charter,  incident  connected  Vv^ith  the  loss  of,  442. 
Russell,  Lord  William,  241. 
Rutherford,  Samuel,  518. 

Sadducees,  opinions  of  the,  92,  399. 

Salamis,  92. 

Saunders,  Frederick,  "Evenings  with  the  Sacred  Poets,"  quoted  from, 

517. 
Savonarola,  in  prison,  515. 

Sceva,  and  his  seven  sons  at  Ephesus,  309  ;  lessons  from  the  case  of,  313. 
Schaff,  Philip,  D.D.,  quoted  from,  44,  301. 
Science,  a  side  chapel  in  the  cathedral  of  religion,  144. 
Scott,  Sir  Walter,  quotation  from,  117. 
Seleucia,  90. 

Self-interest  perverts  the  judgment,  329. 
Seneca,  brother  of  Gallio,  288. 
Sergius  Paulus,  94. 

Sermon  of  Paul  at  Antioch  in  Pisidia,  iii. 

Shakspeare,  Rev.  Charles,  "  St.  Paul  at  Athens,"  quoted  from,  262,  265. 
Shipwreck  of  Paul,  454. 
Silas,  204. 

Silver  shrines,  manufacture  of,  at  Ephesus,  321. 
Simplicity  of  the  Gospel,  Paul's  zeal  for,  351. 
Sin,  fettering  influence  of,  423. 
Slavery,  wisdom  of  Paul's  dealing  with,  514. 

Smith's  "  Dictionaiy  of  the  Bible,"  quoted  from  or  referred  to,  10,  482. 
Smith,  James,  Esq.,  of  Jordan-hill,  "Dissertation  on  the  Voyage  and 

Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul,"  quoted  from  or  referred  to,  216,  447,  448, 

455- 

,  William,  "New  Testament  Histoiy,"  by,  quoted  from  or  re- 
ferred to,  185,  456. 

Smyth,  Admiral,  455. 

Smyton,  Rev,  David,  and  the  "  Bread-lifting"  controversy  in  Scotland, 
1 80. 


Index.  569 

Stanley,  Rev.  A.  P.,  Dean  of  Westminster,  quoted  from,  10. 

Stephen,  character  of,  10  ;  charges  made  against,  11  ;  defence  of,  before 

the  Council,  12-17  ;  martyrdom  of,  18  ;  name  of,  19. 
Stoics,  doctrines  of  the,  266. 
Suetonius,  quotation  from,  2S0. 

Sunday-school  must  not  be  made  a  substitute  for  family  training,  219. 
Synagogue  Lessons,  arrangement  of,  no. 
Syrian  Gates,  27. 

Tacitus,  410,  534. 

Tarsus,  description  of,  27;  Paul  goes  to,  after  his  conversion,  69  ;  prob- 
able visit  of  Paul  to,  later,  204. 
Tavium,  213. 
Temple  of  Apollo,  at  Antioch,  72. 

of  Diana,  at  Ephesus,  304. 

-,  at  Perga,  104. 


of  Jei-usalem,  regulations  concerning,  383. 
of  Venus,  at  Paphos,  93. 


Tennyson,  Alfred,  quoted  from,  18. 

Tertullus,  a  Roman  barrister,  411;  address  of,  as  accusing  Paul,  412. 
Thasos,  223. 

Theology,  in  what  sense  progressive,  310. 
Thessalonians,  Epistles  to,  282,  2S5. 

Thessalonica,  243  ;   Paul's  cause  in  the  synagogue  of,  244  ;  length  of 
Paul's  sojourn  in,  248  ;  labors  in,  for  his  own  support,  249  ;  revisited 
by  Paul,  345. 
Three  Taverns,  473. 

Timothy,  134  ;  present  at  the  assault  on  Paul  in  Lycaonia,  144  ;  par- 
entage of,  206  :  early  training  of,  207 ;  calling  of,  to  the  ministiy, 
2og  ;  character  of,  210  ;  relation  of,  to  Paul,  210  ;  circumcision  of, 
211  ;  receives  miraculous  gifts,  212  ;  ordained  to  the  ministry,  212  ; 
sent  by  Paul  from  Ephesus  to  INIacedonia,  319  ;  with  Paul  at  Rome, 
494  ;  First  Epistle  of  Paul  to,  528  ;  Second  Epistle  of  Paul  to,  535. 
Titus,  distinction  between,  and  Timothy,  in  the  matter  of  circumcision, 
170,  211  ;  sent  to  Corinth  by  Paul,  335  ;  meets  Paul  in  Macedonia, 
340  ;  sent  to  Corinth  with  second  Epistle,  342  ;  with  Paul  in  Crete, 
530  ;  Epistle  of  Paul  to,  530. 

,  Emperor,  voyage  of,  to  Rome,  443. 

Tower  of  London,  prisoners  in  the,  517. 

Training,  special,  given  by  God  for  special  work,  64, 

Trench,  Archbishop,  quoted  from,  229,  230. 

Troas,  215,  336  ;  preaching  of  Paul  at,  350. 

Trophimus,  383. 

Tychicus,  with  Paul  at  Rome,  494. 

Tyndale,  William,  126,  295,  309,  516. 


570  Index. 

Tyrannus,  school  of,  at  Ephesus,  306. 
Tyre,  375. 

Venus,  Temple  and  worship  of,  at  Paphos,  93. 

Vespasian,  voyage  of,  to  Rome,  443. 

Vessels,  anchoring  of,  by  the  stern,  452. 

Ville  du  Havre,  sinking  of  the,  incident  connected  with,  460. 

Vitellius,  55. 

Vow  of  Paul,  and  shaving  of  his  head,  at  Cenchrea,  297-299. 

Voyage  and  shipwreck  of  Paul,  443. 

Weekly  storing,  344. 

Whately,  Archbishop,  quoted  from,  103. 

Wither,  George,  "  Prison  Meditation"  by,  518. 

Wood's  discoveries  at  Ephesus,  323,  327,  32S. 

Words  not  always  so  fruitless  as  they  seem,  24. 

Wordsworth,  William,  quotation  from,  143. 

Work  not  to  be  abandoned  because  of  difficulties,  253. 

Yalobatch,  1 10. 

Zeno,  founder  of  the  Stoics,  doctrines  of,  266. 


THE  END. 


I'CLiTOCK  &  STRONG'S  CYGLOPMA, 


A  Cyclopsedia  of  Biblical,  Theological,  and  Ecclesiastical 
Literature.  Prepared  by  the  Rev.  John  McClintock, 
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have  contributed  to  its  pages  ;  it  covers  the  whole  ground  of  Ecclesias- 
tical, Theological,  and  Biblical  literature. — Christian  Union,  N.  Y. 

It  is  the  repository  of  a  vast  store  of  knowledge  on  a  range  of  subjects 
which  is  really  much  wider  than  its  title  would  at  first  seem  to  allow. 
It  is  fairly  entitled  to  a  place  on  the  cyclopsedia  shelf  by  the  side  of  the 
best  works  of  its  class,  and  will  serve  the  purposes  of  the  student  of  re- 
ligious science  for  a  long  time  to  come. — Literary  World,  Boston. 

One  of  the  most  complete  and  most  valuable  of  modern  contributions 
to  Biblical  literature.  *  *  *  The  work  recommends  itself  not  only  to 
Biblical  students,  but  to  scholars  and  readers  generally,  and  merits  a 
place  in  every  library  as  an  indispensable  book  of  reference. — Saturday 
Evening  Gazette,  Boston. 

A  marvel  of  diligent  industry,  broad  scholarship,  and  conscientious 
accuracy.  *  *  *  The  work  is  one  w'hich  is  altogether  indispensable  to  a 
well  furnished  library  for  theological  reading  or  reference.  —  Boston 
yonrnal. 


Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  New  York. 

1^"  The  above  work  will  he  sent  by  matt,  postage  prepaid,  to  afiy  part  of  the  United 
States,  on  receipt  of  the  price. 


WESTCOTT  &   HORT'S 

GREEK  NEW  TESTAMENT. 


The  New  Testament  in  the  Original  Greek.  The  Text 
Revised  by  Brooke  Fobs  Westcott,  D.D.,  Regius  Pro- 
fessor of  Divinity,  Canon  of  Peterborough;  and  F.J.  A. 
HoRT,  D.D.,  Hulsean  Professor  of  Divinity,  late  Fellow 
of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.  American  Edition.  With 
an  Introduction  by  Philip  Schaff,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Presi- 
dent of  the  American  Bible  Revision  Committee.    Crown 

8V0,  Cloth,  $2   GO. 

It  is  constructed  according  to  the  most  approved  critical  principles, 
and  is  to  be  considered  as  the  crowning  achievement  thus  far  of  the 
labors  and  accumulations  of  the  critics  of  two  centuries.  *  *  *  As  a 
piece  of  editing  and  arrangement,  including  the  very  convenient  and 
economical  method  of  noting  variant  or  secondary  readings,  this  book 
is  a  model  of  scholarly  finish,  neatness,  and  acuteness.  As  to  the  con- 
struction of  the  text  itself,  no  critic  will  be  able  to  withhold  his  profound 
respect  nor,  in  general,  his  assent.  *  *  *  In  punctuation,  the  discrimina- 
tion displayed  in  this  edition  is  beyond  ordinary  praise.  *  *  *  The  edi- 
tion of  Westcott  and  Hort  will  now  be  found  indispensable  to  any  one 
■who  needs  the  Greek  Testament  at  all,  and  that  for  very  nearly  the 
same  reasons  that  he  does  need  a  Greek  Testament.  *  *  *  Dr.  Schaff's 
introduction  to  the  American  edition  is  the  result  of  great  labor,  and  is 
a  very  useful  compend  of  matter  pertaining  to  New  Testament  criticism 
in  general. — Indepeiiderit,  N.  Y. 

The  Greek  Testament  in  its  revised  and  most  perfect  form.  *  *  *  It 
is  not  too  much  to  say  that,  as  it  is  the  latest,  so  it  is  beyond  question 
the  best  Greek  text  in  existence. — Evaugelist,  N.  Y. 

Nowhere  else  in  the  compass  of  a  single  volume  of  moderate  size  will 
the  student  of  our  day  find  so  complete  and  satisfactory  a  recension  of 
the  Greek  Testament. — Christian  Ijitelligencer,  N.  Y. 

We  especially  advise  young  ministers  to  procure  and  study  this  re- 
vised text.  Some  such  study  is  necessary  to  qualify  them  to  pass 
judgment  upon  the  English  revision. —  The  Methodist,  N.  Y. 


Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  New  York. 

E^^  The  above  work  will  be  sent  by  7nail,  postage  prepaid,  to  any  part  of  the  United 
States,  on  receipt  of  the  price. 


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